A Mass of the Resurrection will be offered for Willetta (Willie) Murphy who passed away peacefully on December 6 2009 at 10:00am Saturday December 12 2009 at St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Bunnell Florida. The family will receive friends for a Memorial Gathering on Saturday from 9:00am to 10:00am at St. Stephens.
Willie was born October 27 1919 in Yankton South Dakota. Her grandfather was instrumental in establishing the Dakota Territories just after the Civil War. She attended Yankton College and was scheduled to begin private pilot classes just as World War II began. With her classes cancelled Willie became the assistant for an Air Force Colonel first at the air base in Sioux Falls SD and later moving to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Co. While at Sioux Falls she met her future husband James A. (Jim) Murphy of Brooklyn NY. She and Jim corresponded throughout the War. In August 1947 they married in Columbus Ohio and moved to Long Island NY where they raised their three daughters. Willie took up golf in the early 1960's. She played frequently and independently. It was not uncommon for she and Jim to be out when one of her golf partners would come up to say hello and chat. This became quite the joke between she and Jim as most of Willie's partners were men due to her aggressive serious play. Never one to sit quietly she returned to work and became the Business Manager for the School of the Holy Child in Old Westbury NY. In 1989 she and Jim moved to Palm Coast where they played golf traveled throughout the United States visiting family and friends researching genealogy and finding golf courses to play. Willie became an active member of several 18 hole women's golf associations in Palm Coast . She also was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as the
Daughters of the Colonial Wars. Willie never had a seemed to have a bad day nor encountered any problem she could not only deal with but master. An avid reader she was always one to have a story to tell a joke to share and a smile on her face. She loved to knit create hooked rugs and swim. She was blessed with many friends and is survived by three daughters Mary Kaczorek of Bright Waters NY; JoAnne Murphy of St. Michaels MD; Theresa Diamond of McKinney TX 8 grandchildren 4 great-grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House 150 Memorial Medical Parkway Palm Coast Florida 32164. Condolences may be shared via the family guest book at www.lohmanfuneralhomes.com. Arrangements are under the careful direction of Lohman Funeral Home-Palm Coast.