Robert H. “Bob” Murphy

Bob Murphy, age 78, was born on October 16, 1943 to Lawrence and Nellie (Kerlin) Murphy in Richmond, Indiana. He died on March 31, 2022 at home in Tipton Indiana. He is survived by his wife of seven years, Nancy Graf; daughter Karen Kay Horton (Tim) of Tipton and son Timothy Murphy (Sharon) of Noblesville; stepdaughters Debra Dubenetzky of Whitestown and Renee Hobbs (Dan) of Wichita, KS; stepsons Steve Smith (Stacie) of Richmond and Bryan Baden (Heather) of Tipton. His grandchildren include Megan Kopfensteiner, Joe Dubenetzky, Katy Waggoner, Caleb Horton, Holly Beth Horton, MariKate Murphy, Erin Murphy, Evan Cripe, Tyler Hobbs, Ryan Hobbs, Chase Hobbs, and Jozee Baden. He has three great-granddaughters Sophie, Lydia, and Addison.

Bob graduated from Tipton High School in 1961, married Kathy Fike, and moved to Richmond where they began their family. His career started with ALCOA in 1965 and later Closure Systems International until his retirement in 2003. During his career, he was involved in production, planning, quality control, process improvement, domestic and international transportation, as well as logistics and import / export compliance. Bob was a proud member of the ALCOA 25-year club.

Bob loved to travel and play golf, especially to Hilton Head Island and central Tennessee. He was an avid woodworker – both making furniture and refinishing antiques. He put his initials on each job to indicate his pride in his work. He passed his work ethic on to his children, both of whom are business owners. He took pride in seeing his daughter and her family transform their hardware store into an anchor destination in his adopted hometown. As his grandchildren were growing up, he loved seeing them in academic, athletic, and theatrical performances. Weekends at GrandDad’s often involved a visit to the dollar store for toys that brought joy for a short time, and ice cream as a treat. After Bob returned to Tipton in 2014, he enjoyed visiting with friends over a meal followed by games, worshipping at West Street Christian Church where he and Nancy were members, or assisting in the church’s after-school tutoring program.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Larry, his sister, Nancy Rouse, and wife of 30 years, Linda.

The family would like to thank the physicians, nurses, and care team at Community North Heart and Vascular for their many years of care.

Memorial contributions may be made to West Street Christian Church Youth Fund, 132 N. West Street, Tipton, Indiana, 46072, or World Vision USA, PO Box 9716, Federal Way, Washington, 98063.

Bob’s funeral will be at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 4 at West Street Christian Church with Rev. Ashley Sherard officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be from 2:30 until time of the service on Monday. Young-Nichols Funeral Home is assisting the Murphy family with Bob’s arrangements.

The family requests that in Bob’s honor, you find at least one person to be extra nice to today.

Bob’s funeral will be live streamed via Facebook Live  from the West Street Christian Church page for those not able to attend in person: https://www.facebook.com/weststreetchristianchurch/?ref=page_internal