Nymphas Carl Murdock Obituary (1917 - 2017)

Nymphas Carl Murdock was born September 11, 1917 in Heber City, UT to Nymphas Warren Murdock and Emily Catherine Hicken Murdock. He was the 5th child of eight born to the family (4 girls & 4 boys). He passed into the next life on September 7, 2017 at the Rocky Mountain Care Center in Riverton, UT at the age of 99 years and 361 days of age (4 days shy of his 100th birthday). His mother passed away when he was 10 years old and his father married Henrietta Perry a year later. Two other brothers were later welcomed into the family. His younger sister Katherine is the only surviving sibling. Education: Carl graduated from Wasatch High School in Heber. He later attended BYU but his father took him out of school after learning from Carl's older brother John, that Carl wasn't doing well at school. When his grades came out, Carl had straight A's. After being drafted, he chose to go to machinist (His "Dream Job") school for a year. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as a Tech Sergeant, assigned to the Signal Corps in England during WW2, he attended a body & fender repair trade school in the Oakland, CA area, which led him to his lifelong work as a body & fender repairman/business owner. Outstanding Memories: His childhood memories centered around the family spending the summer at the family ranch in Fruitland, riding horses, herding cattle and attending church there in a log building that is still standing today. During the school year, the family would move back to Heber and live in the "Murdock" mansion which had been built by Carl's grandfather, Joseph Royal Murdock. His grandfather had been elected to the Utah State Senate in 1900 and served as a LDS Stake President in Heber. Carl's love from a very early age has always been cars. As a young man before WW2, he worked in the Park City mines with his younger brother Barney. His first marriage, right out of high school, resulted in divorce but he also welcomed his first daughter, Pat, who was born in 1940. He wanted to turn his life around and found a local Heber girl named Lillian Wanda Roberts who motivated him in doing just that and they were sealed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1943 before Carl went overseas. After the war, they moved to Oakland, CA where Carl learned his trade and then settled in Ely, NV where Carl and Barney bought a body & fender repair business. Thus began "Murdock's Auto Body", which is still in existence today in Ely. In the early 1960's, Carl sold the body shop to his brother and Carl & Wanda moved the family from Ely to Salt Lake City to be close to a daughter who was in Primary Children's Hospital from serious injuries received in an auto/pedestrian accident in Ely. The body shop business continued in SLC and expanded to Pleasant Grove. He worked on cars until he "retired" at the age of 94. Dozens of college students along the Wasatch Front were customers for Carl's "rebuilds". Early on, he salvaged wrecked VW Beetles and then later, Honda's. There was nothing that he couldn't do with a wrecked car to make it better. Wanda died of cancer in January 1965 and Carl married Vivian Merikofer, a widowed mother of 7 children (6 still at home) in August that same year. They were together for almost 40 years, living in Alpine. Favorite accomplishments: Rebuilding wrecked cars and trucks for his customers. Telling stories about his snowmobile and ATV rides when well into his 80's. Impressive changes: The Internet and GPS. Secret to longevity: WORK! Carl was encouraged many times in his "Senior" years to retire and travel, enjoy life and spend time seeing the world. He told his family that he was afraid that if he "retired" he would die, so he kept working until his birthday in 2014 at the age of 94. Survived by: Sister, Katherine Dugger; Children, Patricia Adoor (George-deceased), Denis R Murdock, Carla Marquardt (Steven), Gary L Murdock (Debra), Tina Hummell (Greg), Ken L Murdock (Yara); 6 step-children, 28 grandchildren, 64 great-grandchildren, 18 step-grandchildren, 50 step-greatgrandchildren, 4 step-great-greatgrandchildren, at last count. Pre-deceased by: Parents; Step-mother; Wife, Lillian Wanda Roberts Murdock; Siblings, Fay, Joe, Fern, John, Norma, Barney, Thora, Nymphas Perry (Nif) & Royal Perry (Roy); Son, Carl Stephen Murdock; Son-in-Law, George Adoor; Grandchildren, Steven Carl Marquardt & Benjamin Enoch Marquardt; Great-Grandchildren, Jordan Jeffs, McKenna Messner, Adeline Marquardt & Preston Fielding Marquardt. Funeral Service: to be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at the Draper Eastridge 5th LDS Ward, 11777 S. Willow Wood Drive (880 East), Draper, UT. Viewing from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM, followed by the funeral services at 11:00 AM. Interment: Redwood Memorial Estates, 6500 S. Redwood Road, West Jordan, UT. He will be laid to rest beside his beloved wife Wanda. In lieu of flowers, the family would like to request that any donations you wish to make be sent to the LDS Church Humanitarian Fund or the charity of your choice. Carl's family wishes to thank the wonderful caregivers at Rocky Mountain Care Center in Riverton and Rocky Mountain Hospice for taking care of Carl's needs during the last year of his life.