Humans of Neenah

The Nine to Five

“The first ticket I got in my 57’ Oldsmobile hot rod was laying down two hundred sixty five feet of rubber, and the only reason I stopped was because there was a cop right behind me.” Meet George Murphy, a now retired lively soul who has done everything from running smudge pots in a freezing orchard to opening his own restaurant which Richard Nixon’s daughters used to dine at.

George’s first paying job, at age thirteen, was running the smudge pots or “flaming metal Molotov’s” as George has dubbed them at a local orchard in Corona California. If the temperature dropped below twenty seven degrees and there was no wind, the fruit on the orchard’s trees would freeze. George would come to the orchard and “run like hell” lighting smudge pots. After the night was over and George was covered in soot he would once again “run like hell” in order to close all the smudge pots and still have time to get ready for school.

George was first introduced to the food industry while working at a golf country club at age sixteen, washing dishes. Chefs that worked in the kitchen of the country club saw he was a hard worker and put him to work on cook prep. “I thought it was a pretty good job since I was inside and could eat all that I wanted.” Further down the road George worked at Woody’s Wharf. Woody’s Wharf, at the time George worked there, was the busiest restaurant in the entire United States. “We were so busy because the food was cheap and good.” The most expensive dish on the menu was a 16oz lobster tail at a mere price of $6.95. George left after five years to pursue other jobs in the food industry including opening his own restaurant, Bay Marie.

George eventually made his way to Wisconsin where he had a “big massive heart attack” and hung up his work in the food industry for good to pick up work in real estate. George soon had another heart attack and retired after a lifetime of hard work and following his dreams at age sixty two. George has lived in Neenah for the last nine years. “Neenah was the woman’s fault,” and the rest is history. He spends his days woodworking, a trade he picked up in middle school, with neighborhood kids, reading, and doing odds and ends jobs.

“Never stop asking questions, the moment you stop asking questions you’re gonna fail”

-This Humans of Neenah feature was written by NHS student Luke Meyer