George Washington descendant was vet
Linton Murdock, of Palm Beach, died Feb. 25 in Montecito, Calif. He was 96.
Born in the Brooklyn borough of New York, he was the son of Margaret Fairfax Murdock and Warren Murdock and a direct descendant of George Washington’s family.
He was raised in Glen Cove on New York’s Long Island, attended Friends Academy and spent summers sailing and racing from Oyster Bay Harbor, N.Y. He graduated from The L awrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N. J., and from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he was an All-American swimmer.
After college, he joined the Navy in 1942 or 1943 and was an officer on a destroyer that sank the last German submarine in the Atlantic Ocean just off New England. This was the first and last enemy ship sunk in American waters since the War of 1812. A plaque at the White House commemorates the occasion.
Murdock worked for Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles and New York for about 30 years. He operated as vice president in the mid-1960s, directing the company’s expansion in Europe and throughout the United States. He was transferred i n 1 9 7 0 t o Palm Beach, from where he opened new offices. He retired in 1982.
He was a member of the Everglades Club and the Bath & Tennis Club. He also belonged to the Union Club in New York City and the Valley Club in Montecito.
He wa s a s u p p o r t e r o f the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Schepens Eye Research Institute of Boston.
After military service, he was president of the Rotary Club in Los Angeles and later president of the American Red Cross chapter in Palm Beach. He also served as head of the vestry at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Nancy Murdock, and two daughters, Donna Weaver, of Titusville, N.J., and Debra Weaver, of Santa Barbara, Calif.; and one brother, Tad Murdock, of Vermont.
A private memorial service will be held in the spring in Santa Barbara.
Memorial donations may be made to the Rotary Club of Goleta Evening, P.O. Box 51, Goleta, CA 93116.