Mark Murphy 61 of Mission Viejo passed away on July 11th surrounded by his loving family after a brief but courageous battle with cancer. Born in Hartford CT he moved to Somerset NJ when he was 6 years old. He lived in Somerset until age 30 when he decided to move to sunny California. He first resided in Vista, followed by Thousand Oaks and for the last 20 years he lived in Mission Viejo.
In NJ Mark attended Saint Matthias School and Immaculata High School where he was a basketball legend. As a southpaw and forward he was known for his beautiful jump shot, admired by players, coaches and fans. In 1982 Mark graduated with a BA in Business Administration from Rutgers University in New Brunswick NJ where he also was President of DKE fraternity. He worked for a brief time with his father in the Don Murphy Food Service Marketing Company. Soon after his father passed away, Mark moved to California where he began his 31-year career in the golf industry. The first 20 years of his extraordinary career was with ClubCorp. Mark served in a wide variety of roles with ClubCorp which included: Tournament and Event Sales Director, General Manager (Shadowridge Golf Club, Braemar Country Club), Regional Manager (Western Region Country Clubs), Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Golf Revenue, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Magazine Publisher and SVP of Strategic Alliances and Global Sales. At the time of his death Mark worked for Century Golf Partners. Through his 11 years with Century Golf Partners, as Senior Principal & Managing Director, Mark designed, developed and directed Century Golf’s global membership club networks (Palmer Advantage, WORLDvantage and Golfvantage). A multi-talented leader, coach and salesman with an entrepreneurial spirit, he led all aspects of brand development, revenue management, communications, operations and business development.
Mark had a gigantic presence everywhere he went, not only because of his 6’3” stature but because of his energy for life and his love, kindness and selfless care for others. Like his mother, he had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room. Having received a second chance after spinal tumors nearly took his life twenty years ago, Mark truly treasured life. He was the ringleader; he made every encounter an experience full of laughter and excitement. He enriched so many lives by simply showing kindness, respect and genuine interest in the lives of others. His moto, “We don’t remember days, we remember moments”. The moments he created for all of us who loved him will be forever treasured.
Among all of his lifetime accomplishments, being a husband and father and spending time with his beautiful daughters of whom he was so proud, was what brought him the most joy in life. He volunteered for car pools and attended every soccer game. When his youngest daughter Casey continued to play soccer in college at UNM he attended every home game. The love he had for his family and especially his girls was beautifully reciprocated at the end of his life as they, along with their significant others, his loving wife, his devoted sister, his brother-in-law and his nephew, all helped care for him during his final days.
Mark was predeceased by his loving parents, Margaret Curley Murphy and Donald C. Murphy. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Lisa Murphy, a daughter Jordan Murphy of Chicago and her significant other, Luke Smedinghoff, a daughter Casey Murphy of Mission Viejo, and her significant other, Simon Spangenberg, a brother Matthew Murphy and his wife Jill of Flemington, NJ, a sister Meg Murphy and her husband Michael Torpey of Pennington NJ and several nieces, Alexandra and Mia Mannix of Pennington, Kelsey Murphy of Flemington, a nephew Joseph Mannix of Pennington, aunts, especially his beloved Aunt and godmother, Kay Curley of Leesburg Va., uncles, many cherished cousins, and friends, many of whom are lifelong and his loved and admired colleagues.
Due to restrictions as a result of Covid-19 the memorial service honoring Mark’s life will be private. The service however will be live-streamed from Fairhaven Memorial Park in Mission Viejo on July 17th at 10 am.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to a charity of your choice in Mark’s memory, American Cancer Society, or a charity that was near and dear to Mark’s heart, Gihon Women Empowerment (Non- Governmental Organization) in Africa. The PayPal email for the Gihon Women Empowerment is [email protected] which comes up as The Rehoboth Learning Centre.
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