Raymond G. Murphy, one of Colorado’s last surviving Medal of Honor recipients, died Friday morning at the Veterans’ Nursing Home in Pueblo. He was 77.
A memorial is planned at 7 p.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Pueblo. It is open to the public.
A funeral and burial will be later in Santa Fe.
Only two Medal of Honor recipients from Colorado are still living: Drew Dennis Dix, who lives in Mimbres, N.M.; and Robert Maxwell, who lives in Bend, Ore., said Doug Sterner, a military historian in Pueblo.
Murphy, a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, was awarded the medal for actions while leading a night patrol in Korea in 1953. He had been wounded three times but still made three trips up a mountain to bring down his wounded men, said Sterner, who also operates the Hall of Heroes website that retains the history of Medal of Honor recipients.
Murphy was born in Pueblo and graduated from Adams State College in Alamosa.
After the military, he operated a bowling alley and then worked for the New Mexico Veterans Administration.
He is is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Murphy of Albuquerque; his daughter, Eleanor Murphy of Massachusetts; and three sons, Tim Murphy of Albuquerque, John Murphy of Schenectady, N.Y., and Michael Sandoval of Tucson.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
