John David Murphy III

John David Murphy, III peacefully left his earthly home and entered into his heavenly home and the arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ, on the evening of July 4, 2024. John was loved by many and his warmth and jovial personality will be missed by all.

 John grew up in his beloved Prosperity, South Carolina where in junior high school he was Student Body President, quarterback of the football team and ran track. He loved to fish, hunt and always loved having a dog. John went directly from high school into the United States Marine Corps which he loved deeply. He served in combat in Iraq during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm and also competed in the rifle competition at the 1988 Olympic trials in Seoul, South Korea. John came from a long line of military men with both grandfathers serving in World War II and both being at the Normandy Invasion. John’s dad was a pilot in the Vietnam War and was killed when John was only 6 years old. Upon leaving the Marine Corps, John entered the University of South Carolina and majored in economics and finance. He excelled at Commercial Real Estate and Development, working primarily in Birmingham, Gulf Shores, Louisiana and Texas. After the recession, John moved to Birmingham and his life changed dramatically.

 John had accepted Jesus as his Savior when he was 17 years old, but lack of discipleship, the demands of school and work, and the atmosphere of the Marine Corps drew him far away from his commitment to Christ. John recommitted to Christ on August 22, 2015 and was aided in his walk by several mentors, chief of whom was Rev. Tim McKeown, a family friend. From that moment on, John was truly “sold out” to Jesus, with an insatiable appetite to learn, disciple others, and make changes in his life to become a reflection of Christ. John also realized that he was uniquely and specially suited to help others in need who had gone through struggles similar to those he had experienced through the early loss of his father, a turbulent childhood, and military trauma. John soon entered Birmingham Theological Seminary and started a veterans ministry under Wells Goebel Ministries. He became a Certified Clinical Chaplain through Clinical Pastoral Care and established his own ministry, Cadence Call Ministries, serving as its Executive Director and as Clinical Chaplain to Veterans, inmates, addicts and those with trauma issues. He worked in concert with Prison Fellowship Ministries and Life Converge Reentry Transformational Ministry in Bibb Correctional Facility, with Reboot Recovery, and in other projects like Forward to Freedom’s transitional project. He has also done counseling at Shepherd’s Fold and the ARC transitional facilities.

 John was active at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, PCA, as well as Be One Fellowship (Messianic) and kept up an active devotional life. He loved Jesus/Yeshua, his wife Anita, and his family and friends deeply. Though he had none of his own, he adored children and loved to treat them to candy and tease them. John and his wife, Anita, have had an amazing 9 year friendship and 5 year marriage, doing ministry together, learning together, worshiping together, and enjoying daily life just being together. There have been lots of theological discussions, prayer, laughter and sass between the two making it a marvelous relationship. 

 John is survived by his loving wife, Anita Dutton Murphy, stepson David (Adeeba) Hickox, sister-in-law Mary Baggett, Aunts: Dixie Wilson Blocker and Cindy Murphy Ludwig, Uncles: Walter (Corky) Wilson, Jr. and Steven Murphy, as well as a host of nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, John David Murphy, Jr and Linda Wilson Murphy Smith, as well as his grandparents.

 A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at the Chapel of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama with visitation beginning at 11:00, service at 12:00 noon, and there will also be a short service with military honors at the Alabama National Military Cemetery in Montevallo, Alabama at 2:00 pm.