Clyde ‘Whiskers’ Murdock a true friend with big heart

Clyde Murdock wasn’t what you’d call a sweet talker. For the retired railroad man, actions spoke louder than words.

A former Army Air Corps soldier who served in Germany and Africa during World War II, Murdock showed his affection by chopping firewood, hanging storm windows and even hand carving oak grandfather clocks for his loved ones.

“If you got through that crustiness he had a big heart,” son Scott Murdock said.

Loved ones say Murdock’s gruff exterior and trademark white beard – which he grew to chest-length on a bet – hid a heart that was true blue.

Pals became accustomed to his beard, dubbing him “Whiskers,” a moniker that stuck.

“He was just what you’d consider a real true friend and would never betray you, come hell or high water,” said Jim Kittilson, a friend of nearly 20 years.

Murdock, an old-fashioned guy whose word was his bond, died from lung cancer on Sept. 17. He was 79.

Born in Hiddenite, N.C., Murdock never made it past eighth grade, leaving school to make money to help support his family.

“They were people who worked the land and he was a product of people who worked the land,” said daughter-in-law Kathleen Murdock, wife of Clyde’s son, Steve.

In more than four decades of life in Spokane Valley, Clyde never lost touch with his Southern siblings, even making regular visits to North Carolina in the spring.

Before Murdock and his wife divorced, the couple became parents to three sons, Steve, Scott and Michael, a soldier who died fighting in the Vietnam War in 1968.

Murdock’s 30-year career as a control tower operator for Union Pacific Railroad resulted in unique family experiences. His sons recall living in an apartment above the old train depot in Rockford.

Scott Murdock of Alaska said their home shook when the trains passed through.

“I grew up in a depot, where he was a telegraphy operator, and we lived upstairs with trains going by eight feet away,” Murdock said. “Sometimes trains would stop and I’d meet engineers from all over the place.”

Steve Murdock, who lives in Spokane Valley, said his dad treated his own sons to an overnighter at a former control tower, near Argonne, where their grandfather later worked as operator. Their grandfather shared railroad history with the kids, including stories about luxurious dining cars staffed by waiters clad in white jackets.

“He’d let them pull some of the switches. My children developed a knowledge of trains,” Steve Murdock said.

When he joined the family for coffee, Murdock assured his daughter-in-law that the flavor was fine. “He said you can never make coffee too strong for a railroad man,” Kathleen Murdock said.

It was his North Carolina upbringing that sparked a lifelong interest in fiddling and music. The kid who jammed with his brothers a world ago across the country, joined a friendly group of musicians called the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association.

Murdock played fiddle, bass guitar and banjo with groups that performed in barns, grange halls and for school children and seniors at nursing and retirement homes.

“I can say he didn’t like people or crowds, but he could go out and play to crowds and help people,” Kathleen said.

For years, Clyde met a small group of friends for coffee at the former Denny’s on Sprague and Fancher. It was there he met Kittilson, a retired Burlington Northern Railroad man, and the two became good friends.

As the owner of several small rental homes, Murdock gave renters a break when hard times hit. However, Kittilson said his friend was smart enough to know the difference between tough times and a con.

“If somebody was really down and out and needed help financially or whatever, he was more than willing to help out.”

“Whiskers” lived his life as a self-sufficient man who grew and canned his own vegetables, heated his small home with wood, and spent weekends at his fishing cabin at Clear Lake.

“Wealth or cars didn’t mean anything to him,” Scott Murdock explained. “He was a simple man, he really was.”