James Catlett Murphy, 1907-1992

The Rev. James Catlett Murphy was born in Sevier County, Tennessee, one of four children born to Frank and Rue Catlett Murphy, on July 8, 1907. He attended a one-room school before attending the Murphy Collegiate Institute in Sevierville, then Emory and Henry College from which he graduated in 1933, and then the Perkins School of Theology of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, from which he graduated in 1935.

He joined the Baltimore conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, through the Lewisburg District, and was assigned to Copeland Chapel in Covington, Va. in that year. He moved to the Frankford-Renick Charge in Greenbrier County, W.Va., from which he transferred to the New Castle Va. Charge at the time of unification of the Methodist Church in 1939. In the Virginia conference he served Second Church, Salem; Hamilton-Purcellville; Strasburg; Aldersgate, Hampton; Wesley Memorial, Norfolk; Farmville; Community, Arlington; Central, Clifton Forge; Grace, Newport News; and after retirement, as interim pastor of Crenshaw Church, Blackstone for nine months, as well as supply preacher for many charges in the Farmville District.

He was happily married to Miss Mildred Crowe of Blackstone, Va., on October 23, 1940. She is a graduate of Blackstone College and Emory and Henry College, and lives at her homeplace in Nottoway County. She, one sister, and a niece survive him.

James Murphy served on numerous boards and agencies of the conference, including the Rural Life Fellowship, Boards of Temperance, Missions, Education, Evangelism and Church Extension, plus the Commission on Higher Education, as well as district and city church agencies.

Motivated by a distinct sense of call to the ministry, James worked his way through college and university. He was always a conscientious and serious student of the Bible and a valid witness to the faith. His preaching was marked by a thorough preparation, serious study, and a desire to show forth the unsearchable riches of the Gospel.

No pastor would be more faithful to his pastoral ministry, and he was dearly beloved by his people. His ministry was carried out with deep satisfaction to all. He was a man of high sense of honor and integrity; a man clean of body, mind and spirit. He possessed a very creative mind which manifested itself in unusual sermons and in the perceptive humor with which he greeted every situation. His company was cherished by his friends because of his jovial spirit and great good nature.

He was also a man with a keen understanding of economics and business and he contributed much to good business practices in his churches. In retirement he not only assisted many churches, but helped manage a large farm, growing magnificent vegetables, berries, and fruits which he graciously shared with others. Above all else, he was a man who knew and loved his Lord, and whose daily acts of devotion held a primary place in his life and showed in his loving spirits he showed to mankind. And even now he is still busy -- busy in another room, his Father's.

A private service was conducted at the home in Nottoway County with internment in the family cemetery, followed by a public memorial service at the Crenshaw Church, Blackstone, on Saturday, May 20,1992, conducted by the Rev. Edward C. Johnson, Dr. Harold H. Fink, and Dr. Carl W. Haley.

 

-Carl W. Haley