Third-generation scallop boat Capt. Russell Louis Murphy Sr. of Wellfleet died peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis on April 27, 2024 with his family by his side. He had suffered a heart attack. He was 76.

The son of Alvah “Jerry” and Olive (Marchant) Murphy, Russ was born on April 1, 1948 in Hyannis. He spent his early years in Wellfleet, where in first grade he met the daughter of Pokey Snow, Barbara, who became his lifelong love.

When Russ was 12, he started working on the family scallop boat out of Wellfleet Harbor, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. When his grandfather could no longer fish and took a job up Cape, the family followed, and Russ worked on boats out of Hyannis.

He left school in the tenth grade to devote himself full-time to fishing. “He didn’t care much about the catch,” said his daughter Laura. “He just wanted to drive the boat. He loved being on the water.” He eventually had his own boat, the C-CAP, which he used for scalloping and, to supplement the family’s income, to drag for sea clams.

When Russ was 18, his parents encouraged him to join the Army. Instead, Russ married Barbara, they started a family, and he gave himself fully to a life on the water.

Known as “Big Russ,” he was an old-school sea captain. Laura remembered him plotting his fishing routes with paper charts spread across the kitchen table. “He didn’t use machines or electronics,” she said.

Russ worked with a crew of up to seven, and they were “a hard-drinking group,” said Laura. “They worked hard and played hard. My dad liked to fight. His favorite expression was ‘Put a face on ’em.’ ”

He was also a loving father. “He always held his kids in his lap, and he was a jokester,” she said.

The kids had to be quick to avoid being “snatched and tickled.”

While he was at sea for two weeks at a time, Barbara would keep a log of the kids’ misdeeds. Russ was the enforcer when he returned.

Early in their married life, Russ and Barbara enjoyed time at the Eastham-Orleans Elks. Things got harder when Barbara was diagnosed with a blood disease in 1992, from which she died in 2012.

“He loved her dearly,” Laura said, “and when he lost her, he lost a part of himself. He spent the rest of his life waiting to join her.”

Russ is survived by his children, Laura Young of South Wellfleet, Russell Murphy Jr. of Wellfleet, and Felicia Daley of Eastham; his sister, Judy Johnson of Hyannis; and two nieces, 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and his caregiver, Bob Kellogg of Wellfleet.

He was predeceased by brothers Ronald Crowell and Kenneth Murphy and a sister, Pamela Berrio.

A graveside service will be held at Oakdale Cemetery in Wellfleet at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 10.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Russ’s name can be made to the Wellfleet Shellfish Harvester Relief Fund at icoutreach.org. For online condolences, visit nickersonfunerals.com.