Final Salute

John McKay Murchison, son of Pauline (McKay) and Kenneth Hill Murchison, was born on
November 14, 1926 in Lillington, North Carolina, peacefully passed away in his home in San
Juan Capistrano, California on August 3, 2020. John is survived by his wife of 69 years, Liliette;
his son Neill and partner, Catherine; his grandsons Jason and Justin; his daughter Vanessa and
husband, Bernard; his granddaughter, Serena; his sister, Elizabeth Brand; and brother K. Hill
Murchison and wife Elizabeth. John is pre-deceased by his sister, Kathryn M. Stewart; brothersin-
law, AG Stewart, and Robert Brand.
John spent his young years on his family’s farm in Lillington, NC, and joined the US Navy in
1944 as part of our “Greatest Generation”. John witnessed WWII in the Pacific, specifically
Okinawa, and went on to work with the Navy’s Sea Bees, in Greenland, and the reconstruction
of North Africa where he met his wife in 1950, a refugee from war-torn Spain. John continued
his Naval career with the Sea Bees in posts throughout the Pacific, including Guam, the
Marianna’s, the Philippines, and Hawaii. He also spent time on the Kodiak Islands, and then
deployed twice to Vietnam. From a small farm in North Carolina, John traversed the Oceans far
and wide.
Settling in Southern California in the 1960’s, John retired from the US Navy, joined the
Department of Navy, until his retirement at the young age of 70. In his retirement years, John
was an avid golfer and a very accomplished gardener.
John will be interned at the Summerville Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Lillington, NC in the
near future where he will join his ancestors – the Murchisons and McKays; along with his
parents Pauline (McKay) and Kenneth Hill Murchison; and his infant son, Stephen.
“God’s finger touched him, and he slept.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson