Family of missing labor leader Joe Murphy holds out hope

By Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times staff reporter

Joe Murphy is a "Scoop Jackson" Democrat.

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It made Murphy a "Scoop Jackson" labor Democrat, his friends and family said. So when a floatplane he was traveling in vanished off the coast of Alaska earlier in the week, those stunned included his many friends in politics and at the Washington State Labor Council, where he is senior vice president.

Murphy, 64, of Poulsbo, and his twin brother, Jim Murphy, of the Sequim area, were in a Harris Air Beaver floatplane, which took off from Sitka, Alaska, on Monday morning bound for Baranof Warm Springs, where they planned to go fishing. At one point, the plane was said to have been traveling with two other aircraft that later landed safely. But the plane never arrived.

Coast Guard officials identified three others on board as Jerry Balmer, Dick Koenig and pilot Eric Johnson. Johnson is from Sitka. The hometowns of Balmer or Koenig weren't immediately known.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official reported the plane carrying the Murphys overdue that afternoon, and an intensive search began.

Coast Guard helicopters, Civil Air Patrol aircraft and private pilots had searched 1,200 miles of shoreline by Tuesday night, according to Coast Guard officials. The search included the use of night-vision equipment, but the effort turned up nothing. The search resumed Wednesday by air and sea along Kruzof Island, Salisbury Sound, Chatham Strait and Peril Strait.

It was rainy and slightly windy when the plane took off Monday. Inclement weather sometimes forces light planes to fly to the north of the steep mountain country of Baranof Island, otherwise only 20 miles from Sitka, and follow a much longer route of 60 to 80 miles along Peril Strait and Chatham Strait.

Gerry Murphy, Joe Murphy's wife of 46 years, said the crew of a passing ferry and several fishing boats reported seeing the plane flying low. But "there is no oil slick. No debris in the water," that would suggest a plane had gone down there, she said. And the pilot never signaled he was in trouble, she added.

His family is still holding out hope for his rescue, and relatives, including nephews, sons and a brother, have gone to Alaska to join in the search, hoping to encourage others to not give up.

"They may have flown into a cove somewhere to wait out the storm," she said.

Friends and family are coming to the house to support her. In the meantime, the search continues — as do the prayers back home.
 
"He's very dear to many, many Democrats. He's someone who is a Scoop Jackson Democrat," a labor leader, said Paul Berendt, state Democratic Party chairman, who interned at the party headquarters when Murphy was party chairman in the late 1970s.

"He was the head of the Democratic Party at a difficult time," Berendt said. The controversial Dixy Lee Ray was governor, and Jimmy Carter was president. Murphy was loyal to both "at great personal cost."

During his career, he always "put the issues of working families first. That was the leadership he provided," Berendt said.

Said Karen Keiser, spokeswoman for the labor council: "Joe has a big heart and cares about people and their safety and health and their well-being." He was first elected to the council in 1984 and was re-elected numerous times.

"He's optimistic, energetic and devout," Keiser said. "He used to tell us that Jesus was a carpenter and probably joined the union. I know he personally prayed, and I know we are praying for him."

Whenever Murphy talked about family, it meant not only his wife, four children, grandchildren and two foster children from Vietnam, but many others.

"His family is his world," Keiser said. "He has a big heart for everyone. When someone says family, that to him includes a lot of people."

At the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77, where Murphy was the political coordinator, members refuse to give up hope that Murphy, an electrician by trade, and the others will be found. They are raising funds to help in the search-and-rescue efforts, said Don Guillot, business manager for the local.

"He's one of those men you love as soon as you meet him," Guillot said.

The Murphy brothers grew up in Kalispell, Mont., where Joe and Gerry were high-school sweethearts.

Two years ago, Jim Murphy retired, and he and his wife, Bonnie, bought a horse ranch in Gardiner, Jefferson County, near Sequim, and moved from their home in Sacramento, Calif., Gerry Murphy said.

The brothers are close and share the same political interests, Jim having been active in California state Democratic politics and in the labor movement. He was a leader in the ironworkers union in California. He and his wife have one daughter.

"Joe and Jim wanted to be together in their later years," Gerry Murphy said.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.