John McMurchy loved fishing, farm work and popcorn

John Allen McMurchy knew all of the good fishing spots.

“Little Cedar (River) and Big Cedar and couple of other creeks that only John knew about. You had to go underneath brush and trees, and he would be giggling all the way,” said longtime friend Errol Funk.

Trout was a favorite, found at the stream outside of Orchard, according to John’s friends.

“Once you knew John, he was your friend. He was very generous,” Funk said.

John was a rural Floyd native and one of three siblings who grew up on his family’s farm.

”Corn, soybeans and cattle. We’ve had cattle for 125, 130 years. When he was around we had 200 head of cows maybe. He helped some with them,” said his older brother, Robert McMurchy.

John attended the country school and then Charles City School, but being “a little slow” — as relatives put it — he left school at a young age to help with farm chores.

Neighbors could always count on John when it was time to bale hay, and Funk, who also helped with the baling.

Funk, who had met John through church, remembered how John would come over to his house on the weekends for popcorn, which was the family treat.

“That was our Sunday meal. To try to keep up with him eating popcorn — he could wolf it down,” Funk said.

Visiting friends was also one of John’s favorite past times.

Over the years, Robert took over the farming operations, and John continued to help. John also chipped in at his nephew’s farm, becoming a link in three generations of working the land.

“He lived right beside us, and I watched over him. He would work in the field a lot, too,” Robert said. “He lived with his mother for quite awhile, and she died fairly early, and he lived by himself for quite a few years.”

Later in life, John moved into Charles City and stayed at the Cedar Crest Apartments.

“John lived a simple life and was kind,” said Paula Jo Ubben, whose mother also lived at Cedar Crest. She remembered how he liked riding his bike around town and going out to Party in the Park events in the summer.

“He loved gardening, hitting golf balls, fishing, riding his bike, animals — he was very fond my dachshund, Rosie,” Ubben said.

When health problems started to get the better of John he moved to Pillars of the Cedar Valley care center in Waterloo. He remained there until he contracted the coronavirus and was transferred to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital, where he died from COVID-19-related respiratory distress disorder on June 4. He was 76.