14. Dan Murphy

Dan Murphy, our Grand Knight for the 2002-03 and ’03-04 fraternal years, is proof that it doesn’t require numerous years in a council to assume high ranking officer positions. He joined the council in October 1998, less than a year after he and wife Pat joined the parish. In only his second year as a member of 8157, Dan accepted the invitation to become Chancellor and later served as Deputy Grand Knight under Marce Tebbe before becoming Grand Knight. “Thankfully, I got lots of help from Marce, Ernie Coy and many others,” Dan said. “The proudest part of being the Grand Knight was getting many of the Knights involved in the Fall Festival. The KC’s of 8157 quickly assumed many of the critical roles, including chairing Operations, Food and as the overall Chairman of the event. With all of this help, the Festival’s profits almost doubled over a two-year period. And the Knights continue to play major roles in the Festival.” Dan is also proud of setting up a system with the parish business manager at the time, Frank Cedeno, channeling all parish requests for KC help to follow a structured path through the Grand Knight and the business office.

New members during Dan’s term as Grand Knight included Mike Rumsey, Tim Weinrich, Gonzalo Aillon, Francisco Hernandez, David Briggs, Emmanuel Anyaibe and Deacon Al Evans. Chris Kubin and Ron Suriano were the Knights of the Year.

Dan grew up in Irving and graduated from Jesuit College Prep, where he lettered in track. (He was inducted into Jesuits’ Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.) He then headed to the Naval Academy and graduated with a degree in oceanography. Dan was in the Navy for 20 years, flying the P-3 anti-submarine aircraft and other training aircraft. After retiring from the Navy, Dan became a Navy Junior R.O.T.C. Training Corps high school instructor. He’s currently in that position at Red Oak High School.

Dan and wife Pat met at the Philadelphia Naval Station Officers Club in 1974· She was attending nursing school near Philly, and he came up with Navy’s track and field team to compete in the Penn Relays. They married in September 1975. They have two daughters (Kimberly and Erin) and three grandchildren (Rylee, Izzy and Phineas).