Gerald Lee Murphy, 86, of rural Slater, died Thursday, March 28, 2024, at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia.

Graveside services will be Monday, April 1, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville.  Visitation will be from 10:00 until 11:00 A.M. Monday at Weiker Funeral Home in Slater.

Memorials are suggested to Wounded Warrior Project in care of the funeral home.

Born May 13, 1937, he was the son of the late Emmett Murphy and Frances Fizer Murphy. On October 14, 1961 in Jamestown, Missouri, he married Nancy Louise Buerky, and they survived sixty years of wedded bliss and bickering before she preceded him in death on November 24, 2021.

He is survived by his son, Ronald Murphy (Lesa); daughter, Amy Enwright; four grandsons: Andrew (Alyson), Jesse (Sarah), Ethan (Meredith), and Gerritt; eight great-grandchildren and one sister. He was preceded in death by two sisters and a son-in-law.

Mr. Murphy operated Murphy’s APCO Service Station in Slater and was a multi-skilled mechanic who claimed to be able to fix everything except a porcelain pot and a broken heart! He served in the U.S. Army and was an advanced sharpshooter, a proud lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and enjoyed the outdoors. He was a member of the Slater First Baptist Church.