Obituary of Earl Woodston Murphy Jr.

Earl W. “Woody” Murphy Jr., age 93 of Iowa City and formerly of Ft. Madison, died Saturday, October 11, 2025, at Briarwood Care Center in Iowa City with his family by his side.

Memorial services will be held next spring to be announced. For updates of the services and or to share a condolence with Woody’s family please visit Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service website @ www.gayandciha.com. 

Earl Woodston Murphy Jr. was born May 8, 1932, in Macomb, Illinois, son of Earl Woodston Murphy Sr. and Mary (Yost) Murphy. His family moved to the Ft. Madison area where he attended school, graduating with the Class of 1950. He married Janet D. Faeth July, 26, 1950, in Ft. Madison, where they lived and raised their sons. During this time, he worked at IAAP in Middletown, Iowa. Woody and Janet then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he was involved with Hotel Management until his retirement. Following the death of his wife in 2009, Woody moved to Iowa City in 2015, to be near his son and his wife. Here Woody met and eventually married Martha “Marty” Ferguson Goodwin, a longtime friend from elementary school, on January 15, 2017. He and Marty enjoyed a lot of life in the years they were married: travels, jigsaw puzzles, countless stories shared about family and friends and a strong Christian faith between them, just to name a few. Of course, Woody had many individual characteristics that made him Woody! He loved athletics ever since his days of participating in them in school. He competed in football, basketball, and track. Later on, he coached and refereed. Woody supported most anything sports!

He was a member of St. John United Church of Christ in Ft. Madison, Congregational United Church of Christ in Tulsa, and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City. He was also a 70 plus year member of the Masonic Lodge wherever he was living.

Woody’s family includes his wife, Marty; sons Steve Murphy (Shirley) and Kevin Murphy; grandson Tim Murphy (Angela Pechmann); and all of Marty’s family which includes six daughters: Sharon Fogleman (Lynn), Teresa Espy (Larry), Linda Bissell (Hatta), Kris Lucas (Fred), Pat Goodwin, and Pam Bahmandeji (Hooman); 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Woody was preceded in death by his parents, wife Janet, and brother Lee Murphy.