Michael C. Murphy

Mike Murphy, courtroom lawyer, storyteller, “Blue Zoo” booster, and beloved husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law, uncle, and friend, passed away August 7, 2026, after a lifetime of service, scholarship, love, and adventure. He was 88.

Mike was born in New York, NY, in 1937 to Bessie and Patrick Murphy, Irish immigrants who came to the U.S. for the American dream their son would soon achieve.

His childhood was filled with stickball and Yankees games, his brother, Bob, and trips to Boston to visit his dear cousin Larry.

Mike’s talents for schoolwork and football made him a standout in high school, and college recruiters from the Ivy League came calling. But it was the Air Force Academy, a world away in Colorado, that intrigued him most. He joined the Academy’s first graduating class, along with the offensive line on its football team, and never looked back.

The Academy channeled Mike’s restless energy into patriotic service and put him in proximity to Mary Kathleen Connors, a raven-haired beauty from Denver. She initially turned him down for a blind date. But her mother’s insistence, and maybe divine intervention, led to a July 4th picnic, and, eventually, a 70-year love affair and 67-year marriage with the soon-to-be Air Force officer.

As a kid from the Bronx who had never driven a car, Mike later admitted it was harder than expected to learn how to fly a plane. So he became a Bombardier Navigator instead, serving for five years on active duty and four years in the Air Force Reserve, including activation and deployments for airlift missions during the Vietnam War with the 700th Airlift Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

While in the Reserve, Mike also earned an MBA from Georgia State University and a law degree from Emory University. He then began his career as a litigator with Wilson, Branch & Wilcox in Atlanta and later Troutman, Sanders, Lockerman & Ashmore.

The law in those days gave Mike everything he needed, as a voracious reader and consummate arguer. He would happily argue either side of a case, or both, for the sheer satisfaction of being right on both attempts.

He served for 23 years as a partner at Troutman Sanders, including 13 years as head of its employment and labor law section.

Mike also learned from the example of his friend and mentor, the late Gov. Carl Sanders, and became deeply involved in community service, dedicating his time to the YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta.

When he was not working or volunteering, Mike could easily be found cheering his daughters on at various sports games, swimming miles-long distances at his local lap pool, devouring a thriller in a single sitting, or cheering on the Air Force football team or the Atlanta Braves, depending on the season.

A new chapter opened for Mike and Mary Kay after their daughters graduated from college and the couple moved from Atlanta to Peachtree Corners. There, Mike opened his own law practice with his friend, Bob Marshall, and he and Mary Kay embraced their new community in Gwinnett. They engraved the door knocker on their home, “Answered Prayers.”

Together, Mike and Mary Kay helped to build a new Catholic church, Mary Our Queen, for the fast-growing Catholic population in the county. They also began to attend local Republican county meetings, where Mike had learned that important local judges could sometimes be spotted.

When a friend approached Mike to run for an open seat on the Gwinnett County School Board, he suggested Mary Kay, who had a Ph.D. in education administration, would be the better candidate instead. He became her enthusiastic campaign manager, and she went on to win seven consecutive school board elections. Mike often happily declared that he never lost a race.

In the same years, he also served on the military academy selection boards of three Georgia congressmen, helping to nominate young men and women to have the same life-changing opportunity that he did at 17.

He also served as a faithful member and usher at Mary Our Queen, as well as a board member of Good Shepherd Services of Atlanta.

The relentless spirit that Mike showed in his early law career never faded, even with time and age. He retired from formal trial work at 81 and began volunteering with the Legal Aid Society in Gwinnett. He was named Volunteer of the Year in 2022 for his dedicated work helping victims of domestic violence and abuse.

He also kept swimming, logging lap after lap into his 87th summer at the Atlanta Athletic Club, with his trusty walker propped by the side of the pool.

More than anything, he continued to love relentlessly. He shared his wicked sense of humor, kind heart, deep wisdom, and smiling Irish eyes with all who loved him, including his many local friends, Air Force buddies, and the fellow “59’ers” he traveled the country to see.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Kay Connors Murphy, his daughters, Holly Murphy Gibout, Emily Murphy, and Patricia Murphy, his sons-in-law, Robert Gibout and Todd Stein, and his grandchildren, Harper and Henry Stein, who loved him and whom he loved dearly, as well as two continents of cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends of a lifetime.

In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you give your time and talents to the Legal Aid Society of Atlanta or a similar nonprofit that helps the community around you. Also, buy your wife red roses, call your daughters just to say hi, pay a visit to a friend in need, or find a way to otherwise leave the world as rich with love and meaning as Mike Murphy did.

Finally, the Murphy family wants to extend its deepest gratitude to Mike Neal, a devoted caregiver to Mike, who gave him the gift of friendship in his final year that we should all be so fortunate to enjoy.

To celebrate his life, a visitation is scheduled at H.M. Patterson & Son in Brookhaven on Tuesday, August 18, from 5 PM to 7 PM, with a rosary service to follow from 7 PM until 7:30 PM. A funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, August 19, at 10 AM at Mary Our Queen Catholic Church in Peachtree Corners, followed by a 2 PM committal service at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.