February 17, 2023

OBITUARY: Agnes E. Murphy, DHM

REGIONAL

HOLYOKE – Agnes Elizabeth Murphy, age 100, a Daughter of the Heart of Mary, died on Sunday, Feb. 12. She was born in the Bronx, N.Y., the second of eight children born to the late John William Murphy and Agnes (Larkin) Murphy.

She attended the parish elementary school of Our Lady of Solace and John Adams High School in New York, then continued her studies in Buffalo, N.Y., at D’Youville College and Canisius College. She did clerical work for several years at the American Telephone Company, General Electric Company, and Bethlehem Steel Company in New York. She entered the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary on Dec. 8, 1945 at 74th Street in New York and made her first vows at Queechy Lake in Canaan, N.Y. in 1948.

Her first assignment was to Allentown, N.J. After two years in Allentown as a catechist she was transferred to Buffalo, N.Y., where she taught kindergarten at Nardin Academy; some years later she taught shorthand and typewriting in the high school until 1965. In 1965 she was sent to Marian Center in Holyoke, where she served as superior until 1971. In 1973, she returned to Nardin where she became business office manager in the high school.

In 1981, she was transferred to the Provincialate in Holyoke where she became assistant provincial. In 1982, she was appointed provincial and remained in office until 1988. She lived at the River House in Holyoke until 1994 when she was appointed superior of the St. Paul community. At the completion of her second term in St. Paul, she was given a sabbatical of one year and spent most of the year 2000 in Holyoke.

In November of 2001 she was appointed superior of the Marian Center and Marian Residence communities. Shortly thereafter, the two communities became one and was known as the Marian Center Reunion. In 2005, she retired after many years of dedicated service and remained in residence at Marian Center.

Besides her parents, she was predeceased by two sisters, Muriel and Irene, and four brothers: Bernard, Vincent, John and James. She is survived by a brother, Edward Murphy of Goshen N.Y.; a sister-in-law Pat Murphy; and several nieces and nephews, including John Murphy and Beth Adams.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. at the Marian Center, 1365 Northampton St., Holyoke. Burial will follow at St. Jerome Cemetery. Public visitation will be held at the Marian Center on Friday, Feb. 17 from 2-6 p.m. Masks are required.