Special Report: Andy Murtaugh

This is the second of our biographical sketches of our members. They are being published in the order that a member joined the CLK Rotary Club.

Andy Murtaugh

Andy was born in Timmins, Ontario in Canada, on March 23, 1930. Schooled in Ontario, he graduated from Grade XIII in 1949 and subsequently enrolled at Michigan College of Mining & Technology in Houghton. During his time in Houghton, he met the love of his life Marilyn Marie Hakala who graduated from Hancock Central High. “I made the smartest move of my life when I married Marilyn,” Andy said, adding that, ”after we moved to East Lansing in 1954 when I transferred to Michigan State University, our daughter Aundrea was born (in 1955) followed by Mary Jane (in 1959). My daughters have been a constant source of joy and happiness to Marilyn and me ever since.”

He graduated from MSU in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Police Administration and was promptly employed by the MSU Department of Public Safety. He left MSU in 1958 with the rank of Sergeant supervising the normal line of functions of nine police officers.

in May, 1958, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Forcer (RCAF) as a Pilot Officer (2nd Lieutenant) in the Security Branch, later became a Flying Officer and ended his military career in 1980 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His last billet was Senior Security Officer of the RCAF out of HQ Winnipeg. During his time in the service, Marilyn managed to squeeze in 14 years of teaching grades 4 through 9 all the while raising their daughters and managing the household “at peak efficiency.”

During his career in the RCAF, Andy held numerous and varied interesting positions in France, England, and Canada. most all of which related in one way or another to the security of the country and the RCAF. Some highlights of his 23 years service career were being selected as the Provost Marshall of the RCAF 1 Air Force Division, Metz, France, where he researched, organized and directed the first military police sentry dog program who were trained to guard nuclear weapons. In addition, at Metz, he trained 85 Airmen to protect Division HQ against possible attack using German-built (in 1800s) underground fortifications. Back in Ottawa, he directed a staff of 235 personnel, some abroad, in counter-intelligence measures and provided investigative support in complex criminal service offenses. A most interesting assignment was undertaking a one year study on the feasibility of using guard dogs within prisons. During his study, he visited every medium and maximum prison in Canada and the oldest one in Engalnd. Birmingham [ED: Can’t say that I know where this is.], His personal conclusion at the end of his study was “they do not keep nice people in prisons.”

After the Air Force, Andy and Marilyn built their present home on Lake Superior at Rabbit Bay and still reside there. Not to be idle, however, Andy obtained a license to sell and install security alarm systems and formed Customized Security and later received another private investigator license and founded Customized Investigations.

(Andy and Joe receiving their Paul Harris Fellowships in 2006 from President Dan and District 6220 governor.)

Throughout the years, Andy has been involved in the boy scouts in Metz, France, the Military Police Fund for Blind Children, United Way Campaign, Bootjack Fire Department, and other posts and activities both private and public.

After Dale White introduced Andy to Rotary, he joined the CLK Rotary Club on August 1, 1964.

(Andy's name nearly always appears near the top of any list that is passed to sign up members for a Rotary function.)