James L. “Jim” Murphy (Missoula ’48)
Posted: March 14, 2026
Jim passed away February 8, 2026.
He worked for the USFS as a high school student, spending three summers as a lookout on the Lolo District.
While in college at the University of Montana, he became a smokejumper, accumulating nine fire jumps during the 1948-50 seasons. He recalled that in 1948, the Missoula base had some 160 active jumpers, including his brother, Glenn Murphy (MSO-49), and many high school classmates.
“In my first year some of our chutes were of the old army types and were quickly discarded,” he recalled. “Because of the large group at Missoula, I did not get a lot of fire jumps. I was lucky to have missed the Mann Gulch fire, as I had just made the jump list after returning from a fire in Idaho.”
One of his jumps was for a movie that became Red Skies of Montana starring Richard Widmark.
After graduating in 1951 with a degree in accounting, he went into the USAF as a 2nd Lt. during the Korean war.
Upon release from active duty, he worked for the University of Nevada and then joined a CPA firm as an accountant. He eventually became a partner in a firm that merged with the big national firm of Grant Thornton. He was elected to the executive board for six years at Grant, a firm that then comprised 360 partners.
Jim served in the reserve forces for 30 years, showing up for annual duty and retiring in 1981. For the final 12 years of this service, he was assigned to the Air Force Academy as a liaison officer. He became a colonel and went on to lead reserve activities for the state of Nevada. He said this was “a fairly stressful activity during the Vietnam War.”
Stepping back from his accounting career, Jim was elected to the board of directors of a major utility company, going on to serve on various committees. In 1983, he also became a trustee of the Bill and Moya Lear Trust. (Bill Lear founded Learjet and other aviation projects.)
One of the early smokejumpers, Jim said he was grateful for the experience for the rest of his life.
“I credit the USFS …for much of my successes in life,” he once wrote, “through all of the fun and adventure that has been so important in my life. [Jumping] gave me the confidence and encouragement to do most anything that was productive. It was a great time in my life, and I am proud to have been a jumper all those years ago.”
Jim was the NSA’s eighth Life Member.
