June 30, 1925 - February 03, 2016
Joseph Murphy Obituary In Memory of JOSEPH MURPHY On February 3, 2016, Joseph Murphy, a member of the �Greatest Generation,� passed away. Currently, World War II veterans are dying at the rate of 500 per day. Dad was born on June 30, 1925 to Hamlin and Florence Murphy on the northeastern part of the Blackfeet Reservation near the Milk River. Dad was one of twelve children born to grandpa and grandma. They also took in two grandchildren to raise as their own. The house they lived in was a two-story structure with no electricity or indoor plumbing. They lived on the second floor while another family live on the first floor. Grandpa had about 140 acres of land, which he sharecropped to support his family. He would also raise a large garden to help feed the family. When grandpa and grandma were stricken by illness and because of the �Great Depression,� food became scarce. There were times that only one baked potato a day was all there was to eat. One day dad and a couple of brothers decided to entertain themselves by building a small wagon. Then the boys with the help of a sister live trapped some gophers to pull the wagon. The team of gophers did not work well together and they escaped during the night. Dad was introduced to firearms when he was given a ten gauge double barreled sawed off shotgun by a retired Teamster. Dad found a duck when he was hunting. He accidentally fired both barrels when he took the shot. After he got off the ground, he picked up the gun and gave it to his father when he got home. To this day, no one knows what happened to the gun or duck. Dad went to school grades one through six in a one-room schoolhouse located about two miles from home. Afterwards dad attended a boarding school for grades seven through eight in Cut Bank. He was then sent to a boarding school located in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon. It was during this time dad became deathly ill leading to a long hospital stay. After dad recovered, he returned home. He never did like being sent away to a boarding school. Dad would eventually get his G.E.D. while in Spokane. In 1943, dad and a brother enlisted into the Navy. Dad was sent to Farragut Naval Training Station located near Athol, Idaho. The first ship dad was assigned to was the U.S.S. Prometheus. The Prometheus was originally commissioned in 1910 as a coal ship named the Ontario. She was converted to a repair ship and recommissioned as the Prometheus in 1914. She was decommissioned in 1924 only to be recommissioned in 1942 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Dad was a crewmember when she earned a combat star for the sinking of a Japanese midget submarine. Dad also witnessed the raising of a Japanese destroyer previously sunk in eighty feet of water. The irony is the destroyer can still be seen while the Prometheus no longer exists. Dad became a �Tin Can Sailor� when he was assigned to the U.S.S. Munro, a destroyer escort. The ship was named after Douglas Munro, a member of the Coast Guard, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously during the Guadalcanal campaign. He was raised and buried in Cle Elum, WA. The Munro�s duties included escorting convoys, anti submarine patrols, and the assault and occupation of Borneo. When the war ended, the Munro remained in the south Pacific making ports of call in Japan and Hong Kong. The Munro returned to San Francisco in 1946 where dad was discharged. After a period of time passed, dad decided to enlist into the Army. If he thought he would be stationed on dry land, he was sorely mistaken. Dad was assigned to a ship in the Panama Canal Zone. Dad�s one vivid memory involved a remotely detonated sea mine while aboard ship. The ship was towing a target while a crew on land would remotely detonate the mine. Instead of blowing up the target, the mine exploded between the ship and target. The explosion was close enough to the ship to lift the stern out of the water! They never did find out who the responsible crew was. In due time, dad was discharged from the Army. Dad would finish his military career as a Sea-Bee Reservist later in Spokane. Dad would eventually go to work as a member of an oil drilling crew. It was during this time he met Martha J. Chapman. They would marry in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Their first child, Ronald, was born in Forsyth, Montana. Because of the migratory nature of the job, mom and dad decided to move to the Tri-Cities, WA. It was here in Pasco where their second child, David was born. Mom and dad would eventually decide to move to Spokane. It was here where their third and forth children, Terrence and Brenda were born. Finding work in Spokane for dad was a challenge. Dad would find temporary jobs through the local Union Hall. Occasionally mom and dad, including an aunt and uncle, would go back to the Tri-Cities to pick grapes in the local vineyards. Dad would find permanent employment with the City of Spokane�s Water Dept. After dad retired, they would do some traveling and did other activities they enjoyed. At one point they decided to move to Dayton, WA and then to Clarkston. The main reason was due to the warmth of these areas that helped control the �aches and pains� of their advancing ages. They again moved back to Spokane to be closer to their children. Mom passed away on March 25, 2007, which started the final phase of dad�s life journey. Dad and two brothers-in-law formed their own �coffee club� for frequent get togethers. However, that came to an end due to various illnesses. Dad would eventually find a group of seniors closer to his age to socialize with. They had frequent get togethers at the Hillside Restaurant. The restaurant did an excellent job in watching after and helping to entertain this group of senior citizens. Dad�s health finally caught up requiring him to spend his final year in the Avalon�s Care Center where he passed away. While dad had his faults as we all do, he had one characteristic that will out live us all: His love for country! His parents Hamlin and Florence Murphy, Wife Martha Murphy, and too many brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews to list preceded dad. Dad is survived by his sisters Lenore (Skip) Matt, and Helen Hilton, niece Mona Zuback, sons Duane (Kelli) Ladd from a previous marriage, Ron (Marlene), David (Anita), and Terry, daughter Brenda (Roger) Nelson plus again too many grand and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews to list . The family would like to say thank you to Avalon�s Care Center for their compassionate care of dad. We also want to say thank you to Jim and the other Sea-Bees and their �can do� attitude for their help with dad. We want to give a special thank you to Aunt May and the gang including the Hilltop Restaurant for their friendship given to dad. Last and definitely not least, a big thank you to Aunt Helen for her help in preparing this obituary. Please make donations to the Spokane Meals on Wheels or Spokane Union Gospel Mission. Thank you. A Memorial Service will he held Friday, April 1, 2016 at Noon at Heritage Chapel, with placement of his urn to follow at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake. � To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Joseph, please visit our Tree Store. Read more Events FEB 3
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