William "Billy" Murphy

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William “Billy” J. Murphy, age 39 of Cannon Falls, passed away on Wednesday February 17, 2021.

Billy was born to Judy Charnell on Sept. 12, 1981 in Faribault, MN; the oldest son of 3 children. He attended and graduated from Northfield High School.  After graduation, he was in the service between National Guards to active duty from 1998 to 2008 including  deployment  for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his time in the service, he started his job as Manager of various Subways, then moved on to Men's Warehouse in Rochester. From there he went to Verizon in Red Wing, which became his dream job. Billy always loved to work with people and enjoyed helping others. He met Lisa Kokkeler in 2010 and they were married on June 9, 2012. The following year they had a beautiful baby boy Theodore "TJ" Joseph in June 2013. Billy was very proud to be an active member of the VFW.  He also loved spending time with his family and friends, and loved to have conversations with anyone. He was a very friendly guy and loved everyone and was always willing to help anybody. He also loved to play video games with his son and friends and loved to encourage people to be happy and free. His number one priority was his son, TJ.  He was a fantastic and loving father and the most loving husband anyone could ever wish for.

Billy is survived by his wife, Lisa; son, Theodore “TJ”; mom, Judy (John) Charnell; siblings, Matthew (Lana Denny), Goldie (Bernardo) Ambriz, Elizabeth Willis, and Jay (Candace) Erickson; grandma, Naomi Sprute; military mom, Maryalice Telford and her daughter Lisa Telford; parents-in-law, David and Marlene Kokkeler; sisters-in-law, Carrie Kokkeler, Shelly (Jeremy) Wentzel, Kristi (Brian Miller) Kokkeler; best friends, Jesse and Kristie Rimpila; 4 nieces and 3 nephews.

He is preceded in death by his father, Dennis; Grandfather Ray Sprute; and Uncle Tom Murphy.