Murphy, Catherine

Other Events:

• Obituary: 21 Dec 2008; Appleton Post Crescent

Notes:

Obituary:
Catherine Murphy McCormick, age 94, Shawano, passed away Thursday, November 20, at Birch Hill Care Center surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by John McCormick, her soul mate, ally and husband of nearly 68 years. He died in his 91st year on April 5, 2005, and was buried on Kate's birthday April 11. Kate's story is so intertwined with John's story that it is difficult to reflect on her life separately from his, but she was incredible all on her own.
Kate had a powerful voice, talents and skills at a time when women were not encouraged to be strong, opinionated and successful. She was a trailblazer in so many ways as a student of the stock market, an avid political thinker, a community leader and a health care professional. She brought Dr. Bill Grover and Dr. Pat Stuff to Bonduel when the town really needed them. She was a registered nurse and treasured that profession her whole life.
Kate was a Murphy, a well-known construction family in Wisconsin. So despite construction being a man's world, she knew construction well and was successful. She designed and built houses - more than one - with a knack for maximizing closet and drawer space. Her sense of the visual with custom made cabinets and louvered doors were all done in a warm honey pecan color that she loved. She could comb through flea markets for days - finding buried treasure and using her skills as an extraordinary refinisher of furniture that was brought to life under her hand, patiently and richly.
If you knew Kate, you also know she loved to cook and create a home for her family. Maybe you remember having her chocolate on chocolate cookies or spice cake with caramel frosting. Or maybe you played bridge together, or watched the Packers, or talked about the stock market, or politics. Or perhaps you have enjoyed her Desert Rose dishes, or seen her elves attached to her stair spindles at Christmas.
Kate was the second of five children born to Ed and Stella (Garvey) Murphy. Family lore states that John and Kate met in the second grade at St. Nicholas Catholic School in Freedom, Wisconsin. Kate visited easily with everyone. So the teacher placed John, a new transfer, next to her; they became future life partners.
Kate later attended St. Joseph Academy in Green Bay and then graduated from Freedom High School. She completed her RN degree at the Bellin Hospital School of Nursing in Green Bay. She then moved to Chicago for nurses' training at Cook County Hospital, where John came to visit her on his way to the Philippines to visit his sister Daisy. John and Kate had dinner and then heard the Coon Sanders Band at the Blackhawk Hotel.
John and Kate were married on July 16, 1938, at St. Nicholas Church in Freedom Wisconsin. The priest, Fr. Van Dyke, rather autocratic, scheduled it for 8 a.m. So all the guests had to rise early to get there. Kate's parents had a farm about a mile from Freedom with a beautiful yard and farmhouse. Her aunts, supervised by her mother, served a bountiful dinner. John's brother, Jerry, and Kate's sister, Lorraine, were their attendants. John's sister Daisy and her daughter Joan came from the Philippines. The honeymoon was a trip to Milwaukee and Chicago followed by a stay at the Murphy cottage on Loon Lake near Shawano.
She was a successful businesswoman with her husband, John. When they were planning the next phase of their life, Kate's father, Ed Murphy, had a gravel crusher and washing plant with no one to manage it. So John and Kate operated it in Slab City, where it remains today under different ownership. Kate raised three children while answering the phone and managing Murphy Sand and Gravel with John. From 1947 to 1968 John and Kate lived gravel.
Kate was a great wife, a devoted mom, a constant, loyal gramma and great-gramma, sister, aunt, and good friend to many. She was especially close to the children of old friends from Bonduel and the families of women who rented from them in their big house on Division Street.
Though she missed living at her Shawano Division Street home, and treasured neighbors like Yolanda and Pat Coriz and their family, she was fortunate to have gentle and skilled caregivers at the Birch Hill Care Center in Shawano. Here she was visited frequently by her twin daughters, Betsy and Susan, and son, David, faithful son-in-law Steve, her grandsons, Bryan and Chris Hadley, and her granddaughter and namesake, Katie McCormick Lelyveld. While at Birch Hill, she looked forward to the nearly continuous phone calls from these three special grandchildren.
Catherine Murphy McCormick is survived by her twin daughters: Betsy Catherine McCormick (Steven Lelyveld) of Chicago; Susan McCormick Hadley (Richard Hadley) of Minneapolis; her son, David McCormick (Virginia Bores) of Madison; six grandchildren: Jeff, Peter, Bryan, Chris, Katie, and Megan; five great-grandchildren: Leah, Brianna, Gary, PJ, and Julia; and great-great-grandchild Collin; brother-in-law Jerome (Florence) McCormick of Green Bay; sister-in-law Eileen Van Drasek of Green Bay; brother-in-law William Jensen of Shawano; sister Lorraine Murphy Miller of Seymour; a sister-in-law Delores Murphy of Kaukauna; special niece, Joan Biason (John) Helble of Virginia, and her family; wonderful nieces and nephews, and many children of family friends.
Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, brothers: Marvin and Joseph Murphy, sister Geraldine Murphy Jensen and sister-in-law Daisy McCormick Biason.
Contributions in Kate's memory may be made to the McCormick-Murphy Domestic Abuse Fund of the Shawano Area Community Foundation, Inc., P.0. Box 255, Shawano, Wisconsin 54166-0255. (Affiliated with the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, Inc.)
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on November 24, 2008, at St. Martin's Catholic Church, Cecil, Wisconsin. Rev. Charlie Hoffman officiated with the assistance of Deacon Tom Craig. Entombment was at the Allouez Chapel Mausoleum, Allouez, Wisconsin on November 25, 2008. Funeral services were handled by the Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano. Condolences and remembrances may be sent to Kate's family at CatherineMurphy McCormick@gmail.com

Catherine married McCormick, John R. 16 Jul 1938, Freedom, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. John (son of McCormick, Joseph Michael and Liesch, Elizabeth Ann) was born 16 Mar 1914, Osborn, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; died 7 Apr 2005, Shawano, Shawano, Wisconsin, USA; was buried , Allouez Catholic Cemetery, Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Betsy married Lelyveld, Steven [Group Sheet]

Susan married Hadley, Richard [Group Sheet]

David married Bores, Virginia [Group Sheet]