Lee Wilson Murdock

Lee Wilson Murdock

Just two short months following the death of his wife of 70 years, Pauline, and just days after his own 92nd birthday, Lee Wilson Murdock has left our world to join her in heaven. He passed peacefully in the night with his son, Carl and other family by his side, with the dignity, love and respect he always wanted. Born on January 3, 1918 to parents Charles A Murdock and Martha Ester Wilson Murdock in Blue Jacket, Oklahoma, Lee was the third of 13 children. His childhood was spent moving with his large family between various towns in Oklahoma and South Dakota, as they followed father, Charles, in his efforts to support them as a teacher, railroad worker and sharecropper. After Lee finished school he went to work with his father and older brother in the fields, and by 16 was already hauling cotton to neighboring towns for sale. In 1936, at 18, Lee joined the Conservation Corps and while he played baseball as a famed left-handed pitcher, he also learned to operate heavy machinery, especially bulldozers. He was able to send home $25 per month and keep $15, a fact which taught him to be a life-long saver of money and family financial advisor.

It was after his time in the C's that Lee met Pauline Johnson where they both worked at Eastern Oklahoma Hospital in 1937. Grandma told her friend, who had warned her that he was too handsome, "I'll chain him or rope him, whatever it takes." Sure enough, they were married after a year and a half of dating on October 3rd, 1939. In a few short months, they met with a man who needed someone to drive him to California, and the newlywed, newly pregnant couple moved to California with just a suitcase. Lee searched for depression-era work saying he could run anything with a seat and a motor. After two draft notices, and "wartime employment" in the shipyards, Lee was drafted for real, and assigned to the 1st Detachment of the 301st Seabees. In April of 1944, he left Pauline and their two eldest children Davied and Martha Elaine and worked as a crane and bulldozer operator with the USS Westmoreland throughout the South Pacific.

Shortly after his return from duty in 1946, Lee moved his family to Forest Glenn to work on a sawmill with his brother-in-law, Bud Coley. The Murdocks lived and worked there for a year, and then moved in to Hayfork, where they settled to raise their family. Lee was most proud of these years, as he could frequently be heard to say that his family was his life. He was also deeply proud of his community involvement. Over the years, he was elected to the school board, served in Rotary for over ten years, served with the Volunteer Fire Department for more than 20 years, was active in Little League, the American Legion and VFW, and worked at the Water Works until he retired.

Lee and Polly, as we all called her, had a long and rich life together, and they both took great joy from their family, just as we did from them. They will be sorely missed. Grandpa Lee was full of amazing, spirited stories; it's a pity not to share them here. He could recall dates, names, birthdays, places and sayings and looked forward to sharing these with his visitors. They were blessed with a large family, just as they had hoped. Pop, our Handsome Grandpa, was preceded in death by his "Little Polly", who he had "loved since they first got to seein' each other," his parents, brothers and sisters, and his first-born, Davied Lee.

He is survived by his sisters Doris, Ollie Mae, Clara, and Ethelyn, his cousin, Donald Wilson and his children Martha Elaine, Carl, Lynn and Carolyn and their spouses, twelve grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

Services will be held in Hayfork at the Community Church on Tuesday, January 19th at 1:00. Private family graveside services will immediately follow, and a potluck reception will be held at the VFW hall in Hayfork at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Lee and Polly Murdock's honor to the American Legion P.O. Box 61 Hayfork, CA 96041 or the Hayfork Scholarship Foundation P.O. Box 1341 Hayfork, CA 96041.

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