By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com
Off U.S. 67, on the west side of Lake Pat Cleburne lies the Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum. Silhouettes of well-known county leaders, visible from the road, beckon passersby to stop at the park. Those who do are rewarded with a picturesque experience of early day life in Johnson County.
David Murdoch, one of the primary architects of the outdoor museum, is the 2009 Times-Review Man of the Year.
Although the outdoor museum ranks among Murdoch’s major accomplishments, it only provides part of the story.
“I worked with him on the Habitat For Humanity board and know he’s been a big supporter of Christmas In Action,” said Teresa Richardson, Cleburne health official. “David loves to help people. He’s a good businessman, but he’s also one of those rare people with a true servant’s heart.”
Born in Goose Creek in 1940, Murdoch graduated from Lee High School in 1958. After a stint at Lee Junior College in Baytown, Murdoch discovered he had a talent for interior design and went on to earn a degree from CSID School of Design, after which he worked in the furniture business as a designer from 1960-76.
During that time, Murdoch served as a pastor at a church in Baytown, an experience that deepened his faith and love of history, and that inspired three books.
“I pastored at a church in Baytown from ’70-’76 counseling people on the weekends because, of course, I had a full-time job during the week,” Murdoch said. “Well, people would ask questions that I had difficulty answering, which motivated me to dig into the manuscripts of the Bible because the original writings were not written in English, of course.”
The study deepened Murdoch’s interest in Bible study and history.
He went on to author “God’s Eternal Purpose,” “Understanding God’s Overall Plan,” and “The Fig Tree Generation,” books that are available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.
Also during this time, Murdoch met his future wife, Martha Murdoch, who was teaching school in Houston. They married in 1970.
Murdoch has three children from a previous marriage, two sons, Criss Murdoch and Scott Murdoch, and a daughter, Jan Murdoch Poston. He also has four grandsons.
After they married, David and Martha purchased a home in the Baytown area with enough acreage to allow Martha to have horses.
The Murdochs moved to Cleburne in 1976 at the encouragement of George S. Walls Sr., Martha’s father.
Murdoch worked for Walls Industries until 1980 as head of retail operations in charge of the Walls Outlet Stores.
In 1980, he formed Murdoch Enterprises Inc., a consulting and liquidation firm specializing in assisting businesses that were in financial trouble.
In 1985, the couple purchased a farm on the west side of Lake Pat so Martha could realize her lifelong dream of raising Arabian horses.
They opened Rocaille Ranch for business the following year.
“Rocaille is a French word that means shells or rock work,” Murdoch said. “Well, my wife collects shells, and I certainly picked up several tons of rock out there getting the place ready.”
Years later, Murdoch found a use for some of those rocks. He used them to construct the blacksmith shop at the outdoor museum.
“Although David spent many summers with his relatives in east Texas, many that were farmers, he had not been directly involved with horses,” Martha Murdoch said. “Like many other things in his life, David rose to the challenge of becoming knowledgeable in the care of horses, including giving medications, foaling out mares, and even learned to collect a stallion and inseminate mares.
“One year, a filly born in January on one of the coldest days of the year needed 24 hour care. The foal was too weak to stand and nurse. David slept in the stall and would keep her covered with blankets. He would keep his hand on her neck so when she woke up it would wake David up. That was the routine for about two weeks.
“Several times during the night, the mother would straddle his prone body and wake him up by breathing on his face. She was careful not to step on him. She knew he was there to help her baby.”
Murdoch laughs while recalling a high school girl who got more than she bargained for while working at the ranch.
“She begged to foal watch,” Murdoch said. “So we put on her the midnight to 6 a.m. shift. So she fixed a cot up in the middle of the arena because she wanted to get up close and personal. About 2 a.m. Mr. Sandman came calling, and she fell asleep. Well, the mare foaled out and had her filly while the girl was asleep. Not only that, but while she was asleep one of our cats climbed up on her cot and had a litter. We always joked with her that she foaled eight out in one night, one horse and seven kittens.”
Rocaille Ranch bred Egyptian Arabian horses for more than 15 years and sold them to customers in France, Germany, Kuwait and throughout the U.S.
Murdoch served on the board of directors of the Pyramid Society, an international breed organization for Egyptian Arabian horses for six years. He and Martha were founding members of the Egyptian Arabian Horse Alliance, a group of breeders in North Texas.
Actor Patrick Swayze often attended Pyramid Society events, which were held in Kentucky, Murdoch said.
“We saw him around at the shows,” Murdoch said. “He’d be mucking out stalls, just a regular guy. We’d see him but didn’t ever bother him.”
The president of Egypt was scheduled to attend one event, and Murdoch was supposed to pick him up. Political unrest kept the president at home, and an Egyptian diplomat took his place, Murdoch said.
“The guy saw Patrick Swayze mucking out a Bedouin tent and stopped dead,” Murdoch said. “He walks up to Swayze and says, ‘I know you. You are very famous in our country.’ Now, people were used to seeing Swayze at the shows and didn’t bother him for autographs, just let him have his fun. This guy asked for an autograph, and Swayze said he didn’t do autographs but would be happy to take a picture with him.
“The guy said, ‘I am a career diplomat, and I know how to keep a secret.’” Swayze got a kick out of that I guess, and the guy got his autograph.”
Out of the horse business now, Murdoch and his partner, run M&H; Cattle Co. and raise crossbred Angus cattle on his land.
“You couldn’t have made a better choice,” said Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford about the choice of Murdoch for man of the year.
Others agreed.
“It’s rare to find someone like David who truly lives his faith,” said Cleburne resident Roger Pedigo. “He believes in serving others and has the gift of organizing and getting things accomplished.”
Pedigo cited Seven and Seven, a Habitat For Humanity project during Murdoch’s tenure as president in which seven homes were built in seven days.
“David joked that was one of the best and worst things they ever did as it nearly killed everyone involved,” Martha Murdoch said.
The project involved seven teams, one for each house.
“We started on Saturday and gave keys to the new homeowners the following Saturday,” Murdoch said. “Joel Victory and Tom Hazlewood closed off two streets and set tents up so we could feed more than 300 working on the project. It was quite a happening.”
Victory was Cleburne city manager, and Hazlewood was mayor at the time.
Happenstance led to Murdoch’s involvement with the outdoor museum, he said.
“That was a dream of Billy Cate and Jack Carlton,” Murdoch said. “I’d pass by from my ranch and see them and just got to helping them.”
At the time, Cate and Carlton, Cleburne residents, had moved Johnson County’s original courthouse to the site.
The outdoor museum now contains the courthouse, a stagecoach station, tipis, a blacksmith shop, a cemetery and other attractions.
More attractions are planned, Murdoch said. The idea is to relay the history of Johnson County’s beginnings to future generations of residents and tourists.
Murdoch serves as president of the Johnson County Heritage Foundation, which oversees the outdoor museum.
He is also a Cleburne Chamber of Commerce board member and a member of the Tuesday Forum Club, the Johnson County Historical Commission and the Cleburne Rotary Club, which honored him with the Service Above Self Award this year.
For several years Murdoch has served as flag chairman for Rotary, helping to line downtown streets with American flags on patriotic holidays.
“He’s top notch,” said Dr. Tony Torres, a longtime friend and past Man of the Year recipient. “I have the utmost respect for David. Utmost. I remember when I went through a difficult time, and he came to the hospital sat there and stayed with me. And he’s done that for others. He’s a man of sterling integrity and deep character.”
