David R. Murphey III

MURPHEY, David Rhodin III 82, died Thursday, July 2, 2015 at home. He was born in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1932 and moved to Tampa in 1934. He was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Ann Lowry Murphey; his parents David R. Murphey, Jr., M.D. and Caroline Gaines Murphey; and brother, Benton R. Murphey. He is survived by one son, David R. Murphey, IV; two daughters: Caroline “Bet” Murphey Snyder and her husband, Tom; and Helen “Heddy” Murphey Brown and her husband, Andy; and six grandchildren: Matthew Murphey Holtsinger and his wife, Lynsey; Kyle Lowry Holtsinger and his wife, Jill; Ann Lowry Brown, Elizabeth “Ellie” Bellamy Brown, Allison Ann Snyder and Emmala Parkhill Brown. David graduated from Jesuit High School, where he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, and Washington & Lee University, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He served two years in the U.S. Army before earning his MBA as an honor graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society. He was president of the investment banking firm Pierce, Wulbern & Murphey Corp., and he held individual seats on both the American and New York Stock Exchanges. He was later president of Murphey Capital, Inc., and E-Wise Investments, Inc. For 20 years, he was a minority owner of the Boston Celtics. During the 1970s, he was heavily involved in the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), including serving as the Southern District Chairman, the Chairman of the National Business Conduct Committee, and as a member of the National Board of Governors during the start-up of NASDAQ. He served as National NASD Chairman in 1974. He was a past Trustee of Bethune Cookman College and was given the 1991-1992 C.H.I.E.F. Award (Champion of Higher Independent Education in Florida) by the Presidents of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida. He was a director of the Sumter L. Lowry Foundation and the Lowry Murphey Family Foundation. He was formerly a member of Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club, the University Club, the Merrymakers Club, the Tampa Club, Avila Country Club and Farmington Country Club. He was a member of the Tampa Yacht and Country Club, the Winchester Creek Country Club in Waynesville, N.C. and Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, serving as King LXXVII in 1989-90. He was a longtime member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Pallbearers will be David R. Murphey, IV; Matthew Holtsinger, Kyle Holtsinger, Trey Baldwin, Pickens Price, William Price, Stewart Bertron, Clay Holtsinger, Doug King and John Twomey. A private Interment will be held at Myrtle Hill Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the Parish Hall at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 906 S. Orleans Ave., beginning at noon, Thursday, July 9, 2015, followed by a memorial service in the church at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Old Water Street, Tampa, FL 33602 (www.tampabayhistory.org) ; Jesuit High School, 4701 N Himes Ave., Tampa FL 33614 (www.Jesuittampa.org) ; or LifePath Hospice, 3010 W Azeele St., Tampa, FL 33606 (www.lifepathhospice.chapters.org)