Third Generation Arizona Cotton Farmer
The AP Murphree family - Louise, Pat
Sr., Alice, Little Pat, Frances, Neal early
1940s.
Sr., Alice, Little Pat, Frances, Neal early
1940s.
Brent and his dad.
Brent, Julie and Patrick
The Howards - GE, Terry, Pennee, Pam and Lucille
Brent and little brother Curt pose for
an OSHA and child wellfare violation
picture on the family farm.
an OSHA and child wellfare violation
picture on the family farm.
A blue ribbon for swine at the
Pinal County Fair
Pinal County Fair
Mrs. Sandweg's sixth
grade class 1972
grade class 1972
Tamazunchale, Mexico 1977
Maricopa High School
graduation.
graduation.
Coaching the swim team at
Arrowhead Pool in Chandler.
Arrowhead Pool in Chandler.
Close to Heaven - Early morning
water skiing on Lake Powell
water skiing on Lake Powell
Scaring babies - Holding Delaney
on the old Murphree Farm in
Maricopa
on the old Murphree Farm in
Maricopa
Advancing Education - Presenting former Chandler High
School Principal Bob Caccamo with the Arizona Alliance for
Math, Science and Technology Education Principal of the
Year award
School Principal Bob Caccamo with the Arizona Alliance for
Math, Science and Technology Education Principal of the
Year award
Old Habits Die Hard - Motorcycles
and tacos outside of Guedo's Taco
Shop in Chandler
and tacos outside of Guedo's Taco
Shop in Chandler
Another Amazing Day - Annie
Murphree at six hours old.
Murphree at six hours old.
The Murphree Clan 2005 in front of the Historical
Murphree house in Tumbleweed Park, Chandler -
Back row; Patrick, Julie, Brent, Bethany, Jennifer.
Front; Kyle, Julie Jo, Cayden, Delaney, McKenzie,
Pennee, Annie, Pat
Murphree house in Tumbleweed Park, Chandler -
Back row; Patrick, Julie, Brent, Bethany, Jennifer.
Front; Kyle, Julie Jo, Cayden, Delaney, McKenzie,
Pennee, Annie, Pat
All rights reserved - Brent Murphree
On the ground
after skydiving in Utah
after skydiving in Utah
Brent was born in Chandler, Arizona to Pat and Pennee Murphree. Pat is an
Arizona native and Pennee, an Iowa farm girl, moved to Arizona in 1954 with
her family.
Pat worked for his father AP Murphree on the family farm at Pecos and Lindsay
Roads. AP (Pat Sr.) came to Arizona in 1917 and helped turn AJ Chandler's
farming operation into a profitable operation. He also bought acreage of his own
in the area. On that land he and his wife, Frances, raised their four children,
Louise, Alice, Neal and Pat.
Pennee’s parents, GE Howard and his wife, Lucile, moved their family to
Chandler in the early 1950s from their farm in Iowa. Their children, Pennee,
Terry and Pam, were all born in Ames, Iowa.
Pat and Pennee met at Chandler High School, both popular students. They dated
throughout Pennee's senior year and were married the August following her
graduation in 1958. Pat had graduated a year earlier and was going to school and
working on the family farm.
Brent was born two days before their first anniversary. Two years later, Julie
was born. The family lived in a small house across the road from Pat's parents
on the family farm.
Pat and Pennee eventually bought a house in Chandler and moved their family
into town so the kids could attend school close by. He took a job selling farm
equipment and started a custom hay baling business.
Little brother, Patrick, was born in town. One day there was a knock on the
door. A stranger was holding Patrick and asked Pennee, “Is this your kid?”
Patrick has crawled outside and was sitting in the street playing.
The house on Ivanhoe was always busy with friends and family. The street
buzzed with the activity of young growing families in a small, urbanizing
community.
When Patrick was about a year old, tragedy struck the Murphree family. Rex
Neely, Pat's brother-in-law, was killed in an automobile accident. Not only did it
leave a hole in the family, it also left no one to run the Neely farm in Maricopa.
Pat's sister, Rusty, asked him to manage the farm for her.
Maricopa was the last place Pennee thought they'd end up. While they were
dating Pat and Pennee would drive through the town on the way to the home of
Pat's cousin on the Vekol Ranch. Pennee often wondered who would want to
live in Maricopa.
Pennee and Pat set to renovating the house on the Maricopa farm which was
quite an ordeal given that the past residents kept two German shepherds in one
bedroom and a monkey in the other. Pennee finally resorted to washing out the
house with a garden hose before reflooring and painting the house.
Two years after moving to Maricopa, brother Curt was born and for over 10
years Maricopa was the home base to any number of activities and business
ventures. Choir practice, swim team, basketball, football, FFA, 4-H were some
of the organized activities.
Summers at the Murphrees' included lots of kids, chopping cotton and trimming
pistachio trees. Brent cut cotton stocks, disked wheat stubble, cleaned ditches,
fed livestock and irrigated crops on the farm.
He attended Maricopa Schools from the third grade through the completion of
high school. During that time, he also swam competitively with the
Chandler/Tempe Marlins winning a first place in the 50 freestyle at the 1977
Fiesta Bowl swim meet. He attended 4-H leadership conferences including a
humanities workshop in Washington, DC.
Immediately upon graduating high school, Brent spent time on a construction
project with an American sponsored school in Tamazunchale, Mexico. When he
returned to the U.S., he enrolled in Mesa Community College before going on to
Grand Canyon College, completing a photography program at Plaza 3 Academy
and ultimately receiving his journalism degree from the College of Public
Programs at Arizona State University.
Most summers were spent coaching swim teams and life guarding for the
communities of Maricopa and Chandler. From 1984 through 1986 he worked as
an Administrative Intern in the City Manager's Office at the City of Chandler
acting as assistant public information officer. During a time of rapid growth in
the Phoenix Metro area, Brent was privy to the process that established the
valley's freeway system, helped initiate changes in municipal communication
processes and gained experience in public management.
During that time the Murphree family sold the old farming operation in Gilbert
and moved it to Maricopa where Pat was also managing the University of
Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Center.
After graduation Brent spent several years sowing wild oats. Acting on a goal to
travel he went to work as a GO at Club Med including stints in Mexico, the
Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Several members of the
family took advantage of the situation for trips to these locations.
Following Club Med, he worked for ARA Leisure Services as an events
coordinator at Lake Powell planning competitive swims and triathlons and
managing the Adopt-A-Canyon program for the National Parks Service in Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area.
In 1993 Brent went to work for Kramer Publications as an advertising
consultant. While with the company he won two Arizona Newspaper
Association awards for advertising.
He also intensified his activities in the political realm. In 1994 he managed the
state senatorial campaign for then state representative Roger Hooper. He was
also participated with the Barbara Barrett for Governor effort.
In 1994 Brent was elected treasurer of the Pinal County Republican Central
Committee and served as chairman of the Western Pinal County district for the
Republican Central Committee. That year at the Arizona Republican Convention
he was nominated three time from the floor to represent Pinal County at the
national convention.
It was also during this time that he was asked to join the Maricopa Rotary Club
and assumed the office of club treasurer which he maintained for 15 years.
The Rotary Club was a means for Brent to raise funds to help college attendees
obtain their goals. Each year the Maricopa Rotary Club provides scholarships to
Maricopa area students for advanced learning.
In 1996, Brent joined the National Cotton Council, an agricultural trade
organization, as a member services representative. His passion for American
ideals and his background in Arizona agriculture was a perfect fit with the job.
During that time, he was also the editor of Pinal Ways magazine, a quarterly
publication promoting Pinal County, Arizona.
In 2003, he was a member of the group that incorporated the City of Maricopa
and was appointed vice mayor of the city. He was reelected twice and served as
vice mayor for seven years.
In 2008, he made a lateral move in the cotton industry to The Cotton Board,
which is the oversight arm of the of Cotton Research and Promotion Program.
Instead of working on legislative and policy issues in the West, he worked as a
Regional Communications Manager, promoting the benefits of American cotton,
which included writing for national industry magazines, public speaking and
event organization.
In 2016 he moved his work to the Memphis office of the Cotton Board.
In 2019, he went to work for Farm Press where he is the content director for
the Western and Southwestern editions and special projects.
Arizona native and Pennee, an Iowa farm girl, moved to Arizona in 1954 with
her family.
Pat worked for his father AP Murphree on the family farm at Pecos and Lindsay
Roads. AP (Pat Sr.) came to Arizona in 1917 and helped turn AJ Chandler's
farming operation into a profitable operation. He also bought acreage of his own
in the area. On that land he and his wife, Frances, raised their four children,
Louise, Alice, Neal and Pat.
Pennee’s parents, GE Howard and his wife, Lucile, moved their family to
Chandler in the early 1950s from their farm in Iowa. Their children, Pennee,
Terry and Pam, were all born in Ames, Iowa.
Pat and Pennee met at Chandler High School, both popular students. They dated
throughout Pennee's senior year and were married the August following her
graduation in 1958. Pat had graduated a year earlier and was going to school and
working on the family farm.
Brent was born two days before their first anniversary. Two years later, Julie
was born. The family lived in a small house across the road from Pat's parents
on the family farm.
Pat and Pennee eventually bought a house in Chandler and moved their family
into town so the kids could attend school close by. He took a job selling farm
equipment and started a custom hay baling business.
Little brother, Patrick, was born in town. One day there was a knock on the
door. A stranger was holding Patrick and asked Pennee, “Is this your kid?”
Patrick has crawled outside and was sitting in the street playing.
The house on Ivanhoe was always busy with friends and family. The street
buzzed with the activity of young growing families in a small, urbanizing
community.
When Patrick was about a year old, tragedy struck the Murphree family. Rex
Neely, Pat's brother-in-law, was killed in an automobile accident. Not only did it
leave a hole in the family, it also left no one to run the Neely farm in Maricopa.
Pat's sister, Rusty, asked him to manage the farm for her.
Maricopa was the last place Pennee thought they'd end up. While they were
dating Pat and Pennee would drive through the town on the way to the home of
Pat's cousin on the Vekol Ranch. Pennee often wondered who would want to
live in Maricopa.
Pennee and Pat set to renovating the house on the Maricopa farm which was
quite an ordeal given that the past residents kept two German shepherds in one
bedroom and a monkey in the other. Pennee finally resorted to washing out the
house with a garden hose before reflooring and painting the house.
Two years after moving to Maricopa, brother Curt was born and for over 10
years Maricopa was the home base to any number of activities and business
ventures. Choir practice, swim team, basketball, football, FFA, 4-H were some
of the organized activities.
Summers at the Murphrees' included lots of kids, chopping cotton and trimming
pistachio trees. Brent cut cotton stocks, disked wheat stubble, cleaned ditches,
fed livestock and irrigated crops on the farm.
He attended Maricopa Schools from the third grade through the completion of
high school. During that time, he also swam competitively with the
Chandler/Tempe Marlins winning a first place in the 50 freestyle at the 1977
Fiesta Bowl swim meet. He attended 4-H leadership conferences including a
humanities workshop in Washington, DC.
Immediately upon graduating high school, Brent spent time on a construction
project with an American sponsored school in Tamazunchale, Mexico. When he
returned to the U.S., he enrolled in Mesa Community College before going on to
Grand Canyon College, completing a photography program at Plaza 3 Academy
and ultimately receiving his journalism degree from the College of Public
Programs at Arizona State University.
Most summers were spent coaching swim teams and life guarding for the
communities of Maricopa and Chandler. From 1984 through 1986 he worked as
an Administrative Intern in the City Manager's Office at the City of Chandler
acting as assistant public information officer. During a time of rapid growth in
the Phoenix Metro area, Brent was privy to the process that established the
valley's freeway system, helped initiate changes in municipal communication
processes and gained experience in public management.
During that time the Murphree family sold the old farming operation in Gilbert
and moved it to Maricopa where Pat was also managing the University of
Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Center.
After graduation Brent spent several years sowing wild oats. Acting on a goal to
travel he went to work as a GO at Club Med including stints in Mexico, the
Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Several members of the
family took advantage of the situation for trips to these locations.
Following Club Med, he worked for ARA Leisure Services as an events
coordinator at Lake Powell planning competitive swims and triathlons and
managing the Adopt-A-Canyon program for the National Parks Service in Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area.
In 1993 Brent went to work for Kramer Publications as an advertising
consultant. While with the company he won two Arizona Newspaper
Association awards for advertising.
He also intensified his activities in the political realm. In 1994 he managed the
state senatorial campaign for then state representative Roger Hooper. He was
also participated with the Barbara Barrett for Governor effort.
In 1994 Brent was elected treasurer of the Pinal County Republican Central
Committee and served as chairman of the Western Pinal County district for the
Republican Central Committee. That year at the Arizona Republican Convention
he was nominated three time from the floor to represent Pinal County at the
national convention.
It was also during this time that he was asked to join the Maricopa Rotary Club
and assumed the office of club treasurer which he maintained for 15 years.
The Rotary Club was a means for Brent to raise funds to help college attendees
obtain their goals. Each year the Maricopa Rotary Club provides scholarships to
Maricopa area students for advanced learning.
In 1996, Brent joined the National Cotton Council, an agricultural trade
organization, as a member services representative. His passion for American
ideals and his background in Arizona agriculture was a perfect fit with the job.
During that time, he was also the editor of Pinal Ways magazine, a quarterly
publication promoting Pinal County, Arizona.
In 2003, he was a member of the group that incorporated the City of Maricopa
and was appointed vice mayor of the city. He was reelected twice and served as
vice mayor for seven years.
In 2008, he made a lateral move in the cotton industry to The Cotton Board,
which is the oversight arm of the of Cotton Research and Promotion Program.
Instead of working on legislative and policy issues in the West, he worked as a
Regional Communications Manager, promoting the benefits of American cotton,
which included writing for national industry magazines, public speaking and
event organization.
In 2016 he moved his work to the Memphis office of the Cotton Board.
In 2019, he went to work for Farm Press where he is the content director for
the Western and Southwestern editions and special projects.