[nfbwatlk] Fw: Fw: Passing of a treasured patron

[Mike Freeman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sue Ammeter" <sue.ammeter at cablespeed.com>
To: <wcb-l at wcbinfo.org>
Cc: <jammetter at cablespeed.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 8:42 PM
Subject: [Wcb-l] Fw: Passing of a treasured patron



South Sound woman would have turned 110 years old today

Born June 3, 1899: Daisy Murphy protested at state Capitol in 2007

CHRISTIAN HILL; The Olympian | . Published June 03, 2009



Longtime area resident Daisy Murphy died Sunday morning, three days shy 
of her 110th birthday.



Murphy, whose life spanned three centuries and huge leaps in technology, 
from horse-and-buggies to space flight, from the invention of the 
telephone to the Internet, died peacefully at an adult family home in 
Seattle, where she moved in December, said her son, Don Murphy.

"I am so pleased she lived such a great life," said Murphy, 76, of 
Olympia. "Very few of us are able to see what she saw."

U.S. Census data show it's rare to approach, much less become, a 
supercentenarian. The federal government counted 281 million Americans 
in the last decennial census. Of those, 3,521 were between the ages of 
105 and 109. Those ages 110 and up numbered 1,388.

There were 84,331 American at least 100 years of age in November 2007, 
according to an agency fact sheet, but the U.S. Census Bureau only 
breaks out of the ages of centenarians during the count every decade.

Murphy was born June 3, 1899, one of 10 children of I.G. Wikstrom, who 
immigrated from his native Sweden, and his wife, Alice. Wikstrom owned a 
lumbermill in Oregon.

Murphy earned her degree and teaching certificate at what is now Western 
Oregon University in Monmonth. She married her husband, Archie Murphy, 
on Christmas Day of 1926, and the family, including their three 
children, moved to Olympia before he served in World War II as an Army 
officer in the European theater.

After the war, Archie Murphy became director of education at McChord Air 
Force Base, and his wife tutored soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis.

The family lived for a time on Conger Street and sold their home to the 
Olympia School District as the future home of Jefferson Middle School. 
After his retirement in the 1960s, the couple moved to Land Yacht 
Harbor, located east of Lacey.

He died in 1979.

Murphy was a voracious reader. Her vocabulary impressed seasoned 
crossword puzzle enthusiasts, her son said. The onset of blindness 
couldn't deter her love of reading. She switched to audiotapes.

And when state lawmakers didn't provide the level of funding to the 
visually impaired library to the liking of her and other blind 
"readers," there she was atop the Capitol steps during a 2007 rally, 
holding a sign that read, "107 and Still Reading."

Five years earlier, Murphy had moved into the Colonial Inn 
assisted-living home in Olympia. Before her eyesight failed, she 
crocheted hundreds of blankets for her church, Lacey Chapel, to send on 
missionary trips.

Her son said her positive attitude and eating habits - never being a 
heavy eater and always eating breakfast - might have contributed to her 
longevity.

But when asked, Murphy never divulged the secret to her long life, if 
there was any advice to reveal. She did offer one pearl of wisdom at one 
point.

"Everybody should learn American history," during a 2007 interview with 
The Olympian. "But history to me is a little earlier than with most 
people."

Murphy is survived by her son, a daughter, Dea, five grandchildren, 
great-grandchildren and great-great children.

A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. on June 13 at Lacey Chapel, 
6646 Pacific Ave S.E. in Lacey.

Christian Hill: 360-754-5427

chill at theolympian.com

__________________________________________________

Eura Ryan

Administrative Assistant

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

2021 9th Ave.

Seattle, WA 98121-2783



phone: 206. 386.1254

eryan at secstate.wa.gov

http://www.wtbbl.org











--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Wcb-l mailing list
Wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
http://wcbinfo.org/mailman/listinfo/wcb-l_wcbinfo.org