Lasting Memories

Mary Murphy
Sept. 20, 1917-May 28, 2015
Palo Alto, California

Mary Murphy, 97, a resident of Palo Alto for more than 50 years, passed away on May 28, 2015, in Saratoga, California, after a brief illness.

Mary was born on Sept. 20, 1917, in Detroit, Michigan, to Charles (Wasyl) Ropicki and Mary Szweda, both of whom came to the United States early in the 20th century from the Galicia region of what was then Austria, now Poland.

Mary grew up on her parents' farm in Flat Rock, Michigan, on the Huron River. After high school she moved to Detroit, then one of America's great industrial centers. Despite the Great Depression, for Mary the '30s and '40s were a lively and satisfying period living with friends in a young women's club downtown, and this lasted through the war. She attended business classes at the University of Michigan and was employed by the State of Michigan for many years.

In 1949 she married William Neil Murphy from Bay City, Michigan. Their sons, William Charles Murphy and Thomas Patrick Murphy, were born in 1955 and 1956. They made their home in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The young family moved to Sunnyvale, California, in 1959 where her husband worked as a barber at Moffett Field, and then to Palo Alto in 1961, where he owned a barbershop at the corner of Lytton and Cowper. While on a family vacation, Mr. Murphy died in Pensacola, Florida. Mary and her sons stayed in Florida until early 1965 when they returned to Palo Alto to stay. She loved the mid-Peninsula and as a lifelong-learner, she enjoyed and was proud of its cultural and educational opportunities.

Mary worked in Palo Alto for the County of Santa Clara court system and departments of mental and public health. After retirement, she took joy in babysitting her grandchildren and later watching them grow into teens and young adults. Mary was able to live independently in her Midtown Palo Alto home until age 95.

She inspired all who knew her and will be greatly missed.

Mary is survived by her son Bill, daughter-in-law Monique (Delore) and their sons William Neil Gilbert Murphy and Peter Eric Murphy; as well as by her son Tom, daughter?in-law Denise (Twomey), and their children Halina Eve Murphy, Alexandra Mary Murphy and Joseph Patrick Murphy. Mary is also survived by her sister Julia (Ropicki) Siepak and brother-in-law Mitchell Siepak of Greensboro, North Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband, her brother Steve Ropicki of Gainesville, Florida; her sister Jean (Ropicki) Oestrike of Greensboro, North Carolina; and her sister-in-law Joan Ropicki of Gainesville, Florida, who passed away several hours before Mary on May 28, 2015.