When John James Murfin was born on 9 June 1902, in Swinton, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, his father, John Tom Murfin, was 24 and his mother, Sarah Elizabeth Lilley, was 33. He married Annie Amelia Helen Ashcroft on 1 January 1927. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Oakland, Michigan, United States in 1935 and Huntington Woods, Huntington Woods, Oakland, Michigan Territory, United States in 1940. He died on 17 February 1972, in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, at the age of 69.