John Cecil Murphy was born to Cecil and Evelyn Murphy on May 12, 1929 in New Martinsville, WV.  His family moved to Bridgeport when he entered the seventh grade.  While a student at Bridgeport High, John excelled in football, basketball and baseball, graduating with the Class of 1947. He was highly recruited and even received an in-home visit from Paul "Bear" Bryant, head coach at the University of Kentucky. He chose to attend WVU on a Benedum Scholarship and graduated in with a degree in physical education.  He was a member of the 1949 Sun Bowl football team and of the university's ROTC unit.

 

After graduation, Murphy served two years on active duty with the United States Army.  He was deployed to South Korea where he earned a Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge, among other military honors.  After an honorable discharge with the rank of First Lieutenant, he returned to WVU where he obtained a Master's degree in physical education.  He was hired as the head football coach at Bridgeport High School and led the Indians to their first state championship in 1955.

 

Murphy then decided to pursue a career as a Special Agent with the FBI.  He attended law school and served on the football staff at the University of North Carolina.  Upon graduation, he was accepted into the new agents training class and became a Special Agent in 1959.  He spent the next 25 years of his life serving as a Special Agent in Connecticut, Philadelphia and Harrisburg and was responsible for instructing all new agents in defense tactics and physical conditioning.  He retired in 1984 as the FBI's law enforcement liason for South Carolina.  His duties included coordination of all federal and state joint activities and overseeing the selection of state officers to attend the FBI's National Academy Training at Quantico.  He then worked ten years as a legal instructor at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Academy before his retirement in 1994.