Welcome to
MJMurdock-Hislife
Jack Murdock, co-founder of Tektronix and creator of The M.J.Murdock Charitable Trust
The man no one seems to know .....Columbian, Vancouver, WA
Jack was well known in the Northwest business world May 16, 1971 when he wasn't able to get his seaplane back in the air after landing at Miller's Cove on the Columbia and it tipped over on a stormy day in May. The treacherous undertow soon carried him and his plane out of sight. The plane was later recovered. Jack was last seen precariously clinging to a float. His body was never found. He was just 53 years old with a lot of living still to do.
Jack and I, Helen Solem, first met at Tektronix early in 1956 where I’d gone to work as New Hire No. 600. I was assigned to Reception / Switchboard, second shift. One evening in April he came in with Bunny, his secretary. He was carrying the big briefcase which went with him most everywhere. Bunny had just picked him up from PDX coming home from another Branch Office opening. With barely a glance my way, they hurried right on by. I heard him say, “Hey, Rudy! How’s it going?” Rudy Glasnap was in charge of the janitorial work.
Rudy cheerfully replied, “Picking up. Picking up.” As he emptied another wastebasket.. Jack laughed.
In a few minutes Bunny was back up front and stood impatiently at the door to the Sunset Plant waiting for Jack. After all it was approaching 10 pm and she’d already worked all day. Then Jack hurried up. He paused and looked at me. You’re new.” He said.
I shook my head, “No. Actually, I’ve been here a few months.” That was how busy he was. He hadn’t noticed who was at the front desk.
He sat down on a visitor’s chair still looking at me. My face began to color. I wasn’t comfortable with being so studiously scrutinized. Then he smiled. The most disarming, charming smile I’d ever seen. He rose, nodded at Bunny who was swinging the door back and forth, then turned back to me, and said, “Goodnight.” Ever so sweetly.
- Helen Solem
I sat transfixed, . “My Goodness! Whatever was that about?. I knew who he was, of course. But this was my first personal encounter with this man. There aren’t words descriptive enough in my vocabulary to tell the warm feeling he left with me, flooding throughout my being. This man had charisma I’d never experienced. In the days, weeks and months ahead there were many late evenings for getting acquainted.
Tek Branch Offices were opening rapidly in major cities across the country. Jack made it a rule to attend every opening. Quality products and swift service when required were a top priority with him. So he was gone a lot that summer. When he was in the office invariably after 5 he’d have a group of managers in his office to kick around new ideas; better ways to problem solve. Engineers, production people, sales, none of them were strangers. Many of them stopped on their way home to visit a moment with me. I was very interested in knowing what interested him. Never before in my life had I given a second thought to where the money came from to make payrolls or keep supplies sufficient to fill orders. I simply did what was asked of me to the best of my ability then left at quitting time. . Now I was keenly interested in what made a company go. He reminisced once how back when they were getting started with a few orders and prospects looking good, he’d gone to every bank trying to get a working capital loan. He said Bank Managers would frown, shake their heads and tell him they didn’t loan on prospects, especially in something like electronics hardly anyone knew anything about.
Jack was 38. I was 33. He’d never married. I was separated from my husband. He lived at home with his mother and grandmother. Quite often his mother would call evenings and pleasantly say, “This is Mae Murdock. Is Jack there?” She had a such a kind, unpretentious manner, never an inkling she might consider herself superior to anyone else. Then shortly his Uncle Roby, her brother, would drive up to pick up Jack and all go out for dinner. It was plain they were a close, loving family.
Other than wishing to make a contribution in electronics to make the world a better place during his life, Jack was devoted to self-improvement which took the form of support for Mental Health. Not only to better understand himself, but to learn how to apply the right principles in employment. The Menningers were his teachers. While serving on the Board of Directors for Oregon Mental Health, he met Father Michael Heppen, of the University of Portland, also a Board member. They became good friends.
From early days Jack used employment tests, virtually every major one including the Rorschack, Ink Blots, to help determine prospective employees’ aptitudes. I remember telling him I thought studying Ink Blots was pure nonsense. He must have had some doubts himself as the next thing we knew there was a graduate student working for her PhD inviting Tek employees to participate in a study of the Rorschack. I signed up as did several others. We never heard another thing about the Rorschack after that.
He put into practice what was often preached but seldom practiced such as a Profit-Share program. I remember there was a large thermometer in Shipping which showed the number of scopes shipped each day. Employees from every Department eyed that thermometer everyday. If progress was slow, they’d be looking for the reason. It did wonders to keep productivity high. Health insurance, sick leave, vacations were provided. He set up a pension plan with an employee on the Board. He initiated Group Representatives. Each Department elected their Rep. to meet with company executives once a month and ask and receive answers to questions or concerns which they reported back to their Department. This no doubt prevented Union Organizers from getting even a toe in the door. He employed an industrial psychologist, Bill Bessey, and set up counseling services for employees with problems they were finding it difficult with which to cope. Lots of companies didn’t even have coffee breaks back in the 1950s but Tek did.
Jack was a very quiet person himself. He listened a lot. However he was a gifted speaker when he addressed subjects he was interested in such as supporting United Way. He could turn people on and have them wanting to help. Whenever news reporters wanted interviews, he very tactfully avoided all he could. And he cautioned others too to keep a low profile. He’d say, “Broadcasting our success will have negative consequences and we don’t need those kinds of problems.”
As Tek grew and grew again, we soon had junior executives aboard assisting in various departments, learning how Tek operated. I soon noticed how many of them turned out in brown suits. Jack favored brown suits. When Tek adopted a Stock Option plan for executives, Jack initiated a way for all employees to share in Tek’s success by offering shares they could purchase. That program was called TekEm. When executives voted to go public with Tek shares Jack was very disappointed. He knew, of course, it wasn’t possible to finance the million dollar orders arriving out of current sales. His solution was to float a corporate bond. But, no, the executives wanted to have the chance to become millionaires selling their shares on the open market. He pointed out to them they would now have thousands and thousands of bosses none of whom would know how Tek operated but ready to tell us what to do and how to do it. They said they’d handle it. He also pointed out going public would open the financial books to perusal of possible take-over sharks. Tektronix would no longer be the same company at all. They said they’d handle it. And he finally said he’d not stand in anyone’s way.
He was a gifted financial person. When he left us, Tek had a cash surplus no debt and Tek stock was $84 a share, higher than Hewlett-Packard.
He had a lot of interests. He was an excellent photographer. TEK TALK, the Company Newsletter, had some of his photos in nearly ever issue. He loved ice skating. He owned a third interest in a Canadian Lodge for a retreat now and then. But flying took first place in his life. I remember one evening he stopped at the Reception Desk, picked up the outside phone and was soon talking to his friend and partner, Swede Ralston, in the Aviation company they had at the Hillsboro Airport. Jack was asking if they were able to purchase a certain plane. Apparently so, because next he said, “Great! I’ll send Bunny over in the morning with a $10,000. check.” Swede told me once that he knew Jack quite awhile as a crazy fly guy who worked at Tek, who probably spent most of every paycheck on flying. The old dark blue Buick Jack drove at the time undoubtedly reinforced that notion. He said when someone told him Jack was co-founder of Tektronix and CEO you could have knocked him down with a feather.
In 1957 Jack replaced the old blue Buick with a snazzy, new yellow Buick. He had no specially marked, reserve parking space. Often by 9 am the only open spaces were at the far end of the Sunset Plant parking area. On wet, cold mornings one might wonder if he didn’t think about a reserved spot next to the building. After Tek went public, Jack turned over the CEO job but not control of finances. He became Chairman of the Board which was still a small, tight knit, working group. Once he told me that in the early years, he and Bob Davis were the Board. I was surprised as, of course, he had a Partner, Howard Vollum. He smiled and said, Bob and I sorted out the problems. We could and did call a spade a spade. Then when we’d made our decision, it was my job to sell it to Howard. He made some major moves in his life once he no longer reported to Tek every morning. He moved his home to Vancouver chiefly for tax purposes, he said. He purchased a Piper Franchise for his Hillsboro Aviation business and the one he began in Vancouver at the Pearson Airpark. Then gradually he made other investments among them the Oregon Bulb Farms, a lily grower near Clackamas. Jan deGraf was a world renown lily hybridizer. He wanted to retire.
Jack also purchased the Century Tower a dignified, well located Office Building near Portland’s Park Blocks. The Social Security Administration rented several floors It was sold to Roger S. Meier of the Meier & Frank Co. for $1.3 million. But the $1.3 million wasn’t visible transferred to Jack’s Charitable Trust. When I asked Roger about that, he said straightaway, “Believe me, I paid for it!”
Jack invested in University Village in Seattle near the U. of W. No mention of what happened to this property either. Likewise nothing visibly transferred for Hillsboro Aviation or Vancouver Aviation into his Trust. I learned later Jim Castles owned Hillsboro Aviation.
Jack often made loans to those who convinced him they had worthwhile prospects. Many of these loans were to former Tek employees who thought they had a better mouse trap and wanted to develop it. He learned to fly a helicopter and purchased a little blue one which he took up nearly every day.
He set up a charitable trust during his life which he named The Millicent Trust. His mother’s name was Mae Millicent. Perusing the Trust’s tax returns one can readily learn what he believed was worthwhile for support. One might say Mental Health was at the top of the short list. He also firmly believed in earning one’s own way in life and encouraged Junior Achievement programs. He also deeply, intensely abhorred Big Government.
To know Jack Murdock, to be around him, one soon learned of his ideals; his disciplined work ethic; that he seemingly never met anyone he didn’t like. I came early on to the realization that he didn’t just try to see Good in everyone, but that he usually did. I’ll never forget once after I’d complained about some dead wood, some losers, in my opinion we’d be lots better off without, I found an old, well worn copy of Dale Carneige’s book, HOW TO WIN FRIENDS and INFLUENCE PEOPLE on my desk! In small ways like that Jack helped me to grow up.
TEK TALK, July, 1957
For more about Jack Murdock see www.paranormal-journey.com. Reported there is documentation for the criminal plundering and destruction of much of his estate. It defies logic to think anyone as careful as responsible about the welfare of those who put their trust in him and their savings into Tek stock; and to employees’ not only at Tek (in 1971 Oregon’s largest employer) but also in his new ventures, would turn complete control over to lawyers with ties to bankers. It just isn’t credible. Jack was far too astute to even contemplate such a thing. One of the worst examples of their criminal behavior was the Oregon Bulb Farms. It was abandoned, fields in weeds, then given to a swindler for a Promissory Note. who promptly cashed in on Mr. deGraf’s good as gold reputation selling stock. Then he absconded with the millions. Those invertors chased him around the world for years and finally caught up with him in Florida, broke, telemarketing. They sent him off to prison.
What would a thoughtful, responsible, astute person do when planning his Last Will and Testament? He would surely have had at the top of his list who could he trust to avoid chaos, maintain stability by immediately stepping into his shoes if he suddenly died? I feel he would have considered it a job, especially once the Trust was set up and operating. I’m sure he would not have envisioned any active role at Tektronix as the present Board was working well. Would it be someone who knew Board members and would be accepted by them? Of course. Would it be a lawyer who already had a full time, demanding career? Not likely. Would it be someone who could be at his desk within, if not hours, days to carry on and devote full time to the job? He most certainly would have asked his Trustees to solemnly promise him that would happen. They did not so provide someone for 5 years after his death. Further, taking immediate control of Jack's assets with incredible speed, these
vultures demonstrated no consideration whatsoever for any of Jack's family, didn't consult them about disposing of his personal possessions. They treated them as strangers as if Jack
had no one at all who cared about him. I remember going to Goldendale, WA to see the
Sheriff who investigated the accident. A tall, dignified middle age man asked what he could do for me. I said I'd like to speak to whoever investigated the Jack Murdock accident. He
folded his arms and stared sternly at me. Then said, "You're speaking to him." I asked how
treacherous the water was that Sunday. He still scrutinized me for a long minute. Then, "By
God there is someone who cared about that man."
Almost immediately there was a dreadful Board battle as Trustee Boley stepped up to take Jack’s place. Robert Fitzgerald, CEO, told the Board exactly what would happen if Boley was permitted to take Jack’s place. However, the only one who could have stopped him was Howard Vollum. Howard had a heart attack. Fitz resigned. Trustee Dyke was a member of the Tek Board but he was ousted which had something to do, it seemed, with H-P, treachery of some sort. And, of course, what Fitz predicted happened almost overnight. Boley let the bank unload worthless properties, drained away the cash and put Tek deep into debt in short order. Tek stock price fell to below its opening price 10 years earlier. Not until George Soros tunred up owning 15% of Tek’s outstanding stock and demanding 2 seats on the Board did Tek stock recover. Soros began cleaning up right away, dumping the losers.
Knowing Jack Murdock over many years from a business point I fairly well knew just about what he’d do. And it seemed plain to me he did make every responsible effort to fulfill his obligations as he’d done his entire adult life. His decision is to be found on the next to the last page of his Will. He spells out the job description for this individual: he wished to be his corporate executor ……to collect monies due; pay bills; and prepare tax returns. Of course, the Trustees easily interpreted those instructions to mean they were to select such a person. Jack would never have left such a crucial decision up to them. Nor would he have spelled out any such detailed job description. It would be uncharacteristic. Jack spelled out that description for a reason. It was a clue that he had a particular person in mind. I believe he did so name such a person in a separate document, a codicil, not to be made public. But there was not time left in his life to get that document to that person.
The Trustees deny any such document ever existed. But there is evidence that it did. Incredibly astonishing evidence; evidence of how predatory bankers and lawyers operate. It is way past time this story be told. You will find that story in a few pages from HELEN’S STORY which is on the web site of www.paranormal-journey.com. Click on Helen’s Story.
The original Trustees and those who have replaced them are free to use Jack’s
Trust just as they please,* even to the point of presenting to the world a brief, totally inadequate profile of this man whose entire life is a wonderful example of what a human being is capable of accomplishing. . In fact, one gets the impression the less said the better as if he was a playboy who was fortunate enough to be able to latch onto a successful team. I am, of course, repugnant to them; they are antipathists to me. I’ve been told to get lost or they’ll sue me. Please do, I say. The record speaks for itself. .
And so what happened, happened and “the moving finger has writ and moved on.”
*On the web page for the Trust (The M.J.Murdock Charitale Trust) these strangers, who manage, tell they are honoring Jack's wishes for his Trust, that this was spelled out in his Will and that he wanted to help individuals in the Pacific Northwest. which includes Idaho and Montana. Not so. His will. pg. 4, simply tells the Trust shall be used for Scientific, Religious or Educational purposes -- standard wording to set up a non-profit charitable trust. If these people cared to learn his wishes, all they needed to do was check out the purposes he sponsored in the Trust he set up during his lifetime, The Millicent Trust, named for his mother, Mae Millicent Murdock. Those wishes were Mental Health, Junior Achievement and Small Government.