Sept. 12, 1965 – June 21, 2021
Melinda Ann Murphy, 55, passed away on Monday, June 21, 2021. Melinda was born Sept. 12, 1965, in Henderson Nevada to Nancy Bloomquist and John Curtis. Melinda married Michael Murphy on June 27, 1983, in Mare Island, California.
Melinda grew up in Hurricane, Utah, and enjoyed the outdoors. After marrying Michael, a career Navy man, she moved around a bunch, ultimately settling to raise her five kids in Hemet, California. As a mother, Melinda had developed many abilities, like the ability to know a ball from a strike even all the way from the bleachers.
She also could whistle, very loud – you could hear it across the neighborhood. Some might even say she was part daredevil, on family sledding trips, Mom was always the one who would slide the fastest and hit jumps the hardest regularly getting the most air.
Mom always loved being “home,” which was Hurricane. We would, as a family, visit Grandma Nancy as often as we could manage. One day she was able to convince her husband to abandon California to move to Utah, to “take care of the family,” but we all knew it was so she can be “home”. Upon returning “home” she got work driving tour buses for Zion National Park, which, as luck would have it, was one of her favorite places on earth.
Mom loved family and was loving and motherly to all. She especially enjoyed being a Grandma. Every new grandkid made her happier and happier, albeit more and more exhausted. She was so excited to meet her two new grandbabies in the fall. Looks like she gets to meet them sooner!
Melinda is survived by her husband, Michael; her children, Josh (Bethany), Shane (Lindsay), Kristin (Drew), Zach (Amber) and Amber (Matt); her grandchildren, Cub, Mac Mac, Mocha, Galilee Girl, Mooktwos #1, Hudson Boy, Mooktwos #2, Baby Roe (OJ), Bucket, Mooktwos #3 and pups; her siblings, Janine, Brandon, Geno, Susan, Cherie, Judith, Linda, John and Jay; and her mother Nancy Chancellor. Melinda is preceded in death by her father Curtis Chancellor, while not related by blood, he was the father and grandfather we all cherished.
Funeral services will be on Saturday, July 17, 2021, at 11 a.m. at Spilsbury Hurricane Valley Mortuary, 25 N. 2000 W., Hurricane, Utah, 84737. The family will receive visitors beginning at 10:00 am prior to service. Immediately following the service, a graveside dedication will take place at the Hurricane City Cemetery.
Arrangements are made under the direction of Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff Street, St. George, Utah, 435-673-2454. Friends and family are invited to sign Melinda’s online guestbook at www.spilsburymortuary.com.