A Wee Bit About Kevin Murphy

Sixteen-year old Kevin Murphy lived with his parents and younger sister, Katie, in a two-story house on the south side of Estes Park, Colorado. His extended family had lived in that town since his great, great, great, great grandfather, John Murphy, settled there after leaving Ireland with the Earl of Dunraven in 1872.

The family's Irish heritage was important to the Murphys. In fact, Kevin's grandfather, Pat Murphy, believed it was so important that he talked about it, and especially John Murphy, so much that it was a standing joke in the family.

Kevin, while he enjoyed watching team sports, did not participate in them. He was too small for football, too short for basketball and too uncoordinated for soccer. He and his family all enjoyed outdoor activities especially hiking the many trails in and around the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Though Kevin did very well in school, he was no match for Katie who had earned straight A's ever since entering first grade. He excelled in debate, which was his only school-related extracurricular activity.

Kevin had many friends and was a gifted storyteller. He could make up a good story in a few seconds and tell it so convincingly that everyone would believe him. It was a gift his parents and sister wished he didn't have.

Never was Kevin a shy boy. Quite to the contrary, he liked to be the center of attention and would go to extraordinary lengths to make that happen. However, having said that, you can see from the photo to the left that we had a devil of a time getting a picture of him. Hopefully we will be able to get him to slow down a bit so we can take a better picture of him.