Kevin John Murphy

Kevin John Murphy was born on September 9, 1953 in Long Beach, California to parents Warren and Shirley. He lost his battle with cancer July 21, 2011 surrounded by his loving family.

Kevin was a UCLA Bruin, something he was exceedingly proud of throughout his life. It was at UCLA that Kevin gained his passion for city governance.

Upon graduation from UCLA in 1976, Kevin began his 22-year career in city government. Serving in Walnut and Stanton, and then in Lancaster as Assistant to the City Manager. In 1983, at the age of 29, Kevin began as City Manager in Alhambra, where he became one of the youngest City Managers in the State of California.

After nine years in Alhambra, he moved to Newport Beach as City Manager. He was well respected and many of his peers in the city viewed him as forward thinking and consistently ahead of the curve in city governance. In 1998, Kevin took the opportunity to utilize his knowledge of municipalities and joined PARS, leading their consulting division. Most recently he was named Chief Operating Officer of the Public Agency Retirement Services.

Kevin married the love of his life, Tina in August 1981. Daughters Amy and Jenna completed the happy family. Kevin was very involved in both of his girls sports; from the first swim lessons and coaching softball to cheering poolside at swim meets and leading the UCLA 8-clap cheer at Jenna’s water polo games. Amy and Jenna were Kevin’s pride and joy and he was honored to welcome Matt and Curtis into their clan.

Kevin loved being active. He enjoyed running, participating in the Honolulu and New York marathons. Conquering Mount Whitney was a goal and in 2004 he completed the rigorous hike with daughter Amy. He found great passion cycling with Tina. Most recently, they accomplished an intense two-day ride to raise money for MS.

Although Kevin has been taken from us at an early age, he lives on through his wife Tina, daughters, Amy (Matt) Wallace and Jenna (Curtis Williamson), father Warren and sister Malinda (Jerry) Wisz, as well as through the lives of each of those he impacted and inspired during his successful career and rich personal life.

A Celebration of Life will be held 10:00am Saturday, July 30, 2011 at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made by check to The UCLA Foundation and forwarded to The UCLA Foundation, Attn: Gabriel Cagwin, 10920 Wilshire Blvd Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90095 indicating Kevin Murphy: Spieker Aquatic Center in the memo line.