Maggie Murdaugh had a ‘gentle presence,’ remembered as second mom to sons’ friends

This story first published June 10, 2021.

Maggie Murdaugh liked wildflowers.

When the 52-year-old woman came into Nix Florist in Hampton to choose flowers for her family’s events, she selected arrangements that looked natural and wild over ones that were perfectly manicured.

She hated pink flowers, employees remembered.

On Monday, Murdaugh and her 22-year-old son, Paul, were shot and killed at their family’s hunting lodge in Colleton County. Their deaths — still unresolved — have prompted speculation and unease in Hampton, the family’s hometown and a place the Murdaugh family has loomed large in the legal and law enforcement communities for nearly a century.

Margaret “Maggie” Kennedy Branstetter Murdaugh was born Sept. 15, 1968 to Margaret Elmore Branstetter and Paul Terry Branstetter. Throughout her life she lived in Columbia, Summerville, Edisto, Hampton, and most recently, at her family’s Colleton lodge, “Moselle.”

A 1991 graduate of the University of South Carolina in 1991, she met her husband, Alex, there, according to her obituary published by Peeples-Rhoden Funeral Home.

The couple raised their two sons in Hampton and spent summers at their family beach house in Edisto, according to the obituary.

Murdaugh loved welcoming friends and family into her home, the obituary said. She adored her family, and enjoyed spending time on the boat with her children. She will be remembered as a “second mom” to her sons’ many friends, the obituary said.

People who knew Murdaugh described her as a good mother and gentle presence in Hampton, a city of around 2,500 people.

In addition to her husband Richard Alexander Murdaugh, she is survived by her oldest son Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., her sister, Marian Branstetter Proctor, and her parents, Kennedy Hubbard Branstetter and Terry Lee Branstetter.

The graveside service celebrating the lives of Murdaugh and her son, Paul, will be held at noon Friday at the Hampton Cemetery.

This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Maggie Murdaugh had a ‘gentle presence,’ remembered as second mom to sons’ friends."

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.