Richard Murphy | Air Force Veteran, Executive Director & Founding Member

Richard Murphy - Air Force Veteran, Executive Director & Co-Founder

Richard Murphy is a 3rd generation Air Force Veteran who comes from a family proud of their military heritage and service to the nation. Rich served as a member of the U.S. Security Forces from 1998 to 2003. After returning to the civilian sector Rich looked for a way to continue serving his community and worked in social work from 2007 to 2014.

Not long after separating from the military Rich began teaching himself how to farm as a hobby, or as he would say “play with the plants”. His curiosity did not stop at the soil. Rich sought out innovative agriculture methods like hydroponics, controlled environmental agriculture, and more. What started as just a welcome distraction soon became a lifelong obsession. After a while, you could count on finding Rich tending to his garden and teaching whoever would listen about the magical life of plants.

As luck would have it, he was introduced to Veterans to Farmers (VTF) in 2013 while looking for others who shared the same passion for local food production, responsible agriculture, and community. His wife LeeAnn (also a veteran) stumbled across VTF while they were reaching out for help getting the non-profit started. She instantly knew Rich was the perfect fit and the rest is history. Rich and VTF became inseparable and he has gone on to help design the courses, teach the classes, mentor veterans, and educate the public on the important topics of veteran community building and local food security.

Rich understands the unique benefits the farm can offer his fellow veterans through his own personal experiences. He is fond of saying, “You don’t have to call it therapy if you don’t want to, just get some vets out in the dirt and the therapy will happen all on its own”

Rich and his family own a 35-acre homestead outside Old Town Fort Collins, CO.