Kathleen Murphy Gaston

“Kathleen Murphy “Murf” Gaston passed away far too early after a brief illness on March 18, 2025.
Born in Bakersfield, CA, in 1956, she was raised in Germany, where her father served in the US Army. His sudden death when she was 10 years old caused her mother to bring her and her younger brother back to the Los Angeles area, where she spent all of her teenage and young adult years. Murf came to faith in Jesus Christ while she was in high school through friends on the drill team, and she began attending the First Baptist Church of Reseda. Her deep and intimate connection to God quickly became the center of her life. There she met Mike Gaston who became her best friend, and eventually her boyfriend and then her husband. They were married in Reseda in 1982. She had developed a passion for Christian missions while in college, and though Mike was studying to be a Stateside pastor, he too became interested in missions soon after they were married. The couple was appointed to serve as cross-cultural church planters in 1986 with the Baptist General Conference Board of World Missions. Their 15 years of international service included time in Cameroon, West Africa, and in France. Their daughter Amy was born in Paris in 1988, and their daughter Mélanie was born in Monaco in 1993. They returned to California in 2001 when Mike was invited to serve on the staff of Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita. A serious car accident in 2002 led to a chronic pain syndrome which limited Murf’s activities for the rest of her life, though few ever knew how bad it was. Their 14 years of service there was followed by a move to Prescott in 2015, where Mike served on the pastoral team at Heights Church. They began volunteering as providers of pastoral care to missionaries during their time at Heights, and when that season came to a close, they cared for cross-cultural workers full-time with Converge International Ministries. They created a respite house for missionaries, called the Selah Suite, in the basement of their home in Prescott. This ministry allowed Murf’s hospitality gifts to shine, and she quickly became known worldwide for her gentle and encouraging spirit and her ability to make total strangers feel at home and loved. As they made Union Church their spiritual home, they eventually hosted more than 100 families and individuals in the Selah Suite. Murf is widely loved and deeply missed, and her passing was mourned literally around the world. She is survived by her husband Mike, their daughters Amy and Mélanie, their husbands Joshua and Matthew, and four grandchildren: Corban, Jude, Eden and Matthias. A memorial service for Murf will be held on Friday, April 4, at 6pm at Park Collective (the Heights Church PV campus), 7450 E Pav Way, in Prescott Valley. A second memorial is planned in Santa Clarita, CA, on Saturday April 26 at 10am. That service will be live-streamed – please contact the family for details.