Nora Murphy's Obituary
Nora Murphy died at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson, AZ on April 5, 2018. She was born July 3, 1938 in Henry Ford Hospital, Pontiac MI. She was the fifth child of Margaret and Houston Murphy. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers: Arthur, Houston, and Morly, and one sister, Frances.
Early in her life she attended movies with her mother and horse races with her grandmother. She was a child of WWII who helped her mother prepare and send care packages to family members in Scotland. She watched as B-24 Liberator bombers came off the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company's Willow Run plant near Detroit, MI known as: "Bomber Highway". Perhaps, that influenced her to join the Civil Air Patrol during high school.
Later, she joined the Women's Army Corps serving for eight years. During her first enlistment she worked at several Army Posts in a variety of assignments. At Fort Dix, NJ she was the training NCO. At Fort Holabird, MD she worked as a personnel specialist. At Fort McCellan, AL she was a platoon sergeant and personnel specialist.
In 1964, Nora reenlisted to become a computer programmer. After completing classes at Fort Monmouth, NJ in September, she was assigned to Fort Huachuca, AZ. During her military enlistments, she earned a National Defense Service Metal, two Good Conduct Metals and an Army Commendation Metal. She achieved the rank of SP6. In Federal Civil Service, she worked as an electric accounting machine operator. She moved to Mesa, AZ
where she worked on the assembly line for Motorola. Later, she returned to Huachuca City, AZ to attend Pima College graduating as a radiology technician. For a time, she ran the Radiology Clinic at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, AZ. She said, "This was her favorite job".
She graduated from the University Of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts degree as a counselor. She returned to Fort Huachuca, AZ to finish twenty years of federal service by working in a variety of computer related positions. She also worked for the state of Arizona as a Social Security Disability Claims Adjuster. After retirement, she briefly worked at Walmart in Sierra Vista, AZ.
Nora was a member of Mensa, enjoyed flowers, Arizona sunsets, and reading Stephen King and Ann Rice novels. She liked Harry Potter movies, NCIS, The Voice and the evening NEWS. Nora always said she was a "born administrator and a trained counselor" and always "did the best she could".
She loved her family, her friends, her dogs and her black cat - Wee Nora. She will be especially missed by her sisters, Elizabeth and Margie and her friends Laura, Mike, Helen, Jean, April, Dale and Juanita.
What’s your fondest memory of Nora?
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Share a story where Nora's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Nora you’ll never forget.
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