Jim Murphy

After graduation from SHS, I enlisted in the USAF where I was placed in a special forces K-9 unit. I deployed to Vietnam for a one-year tour of duty where I was stationed at Bien Hoa air base north of Saigon from 1967-1968. During that time, I became pen pals with a girl my sister worked with at Logan airport, and we just celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary this past June—so, we both blame my sister Donna.

Upon my return to the USA, I was assigned to a Presidential security squadron in Washington, D.C. for Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon while finishing out my enlistment. I then returned to school on the GI bill and graduated ‘Sigma Cum Lucky” from Boston University. I went to work for GE in Lynn and spent the next 33 years as a manager there. I have been retired for 11 years now and my wife, Regina, and I live in Reading, MA.

My wife and I have raised two wonderful children, our daughter Karen (a Reading Memorial H.S teacher) and our son Jim (an account manager for EMC). We have 5 beautiful grandchildren—four boys and one girl. They all live in Reading and that has given us the opportunity to develop great relationships with the grandkids. Bonding with these kids is the thing we cherish most in life. I spent a great deal of my time in the pool at the YMCA in Reading teaching all of them to swim.

At SHS I played football and wore the number 12. My son Jim carried on the tradition by wearing #12 during his football career as a quarterback at Reading Memorial High School, Northeastern University, and the New England Patriots.

My hobbies consist of Competitive Trap Shooting, fishing, and—since my wife worked in the airline industry—traveling the world.