Joseph Francis MURPHY

1926 - 2015

MURPHY, Joseph JOSEPH FRANCIS MURPHY Joe Murphy, Navy veteran of two wars, well-loved father and grandfather, attorney, entrepreneur and a tireless flirt to legions of ladies, slipped into the Lord's hands on Sunday, February 8th at St. Joseph's Hospital after a long battle with Parkinson's leukemia. Born July 14, 1926 in the Bronx, New York to Anna McEwen Murphy and Joseph Terrance Murphy, Joe enlisted into the Navy at age 17, served in World War II as a morse code operator in the Pacific, later serving in the Korean War. He graduated from Iona College and Fordham Law School and worked at Heublein before marrying Alice Margaret O'Neill. They had five children and adopted another before moving to Atlanta in the early 1960s, where Joe worked for fourteen years as a trademark attorney for The Coca-Cola Company. He later pursued his entrepreneurial interests, starting a dairy distribution service catering to Atlanta restaurants. A lifelong Catholic and a member of several Atlanta parishes, Joe chaired the St. Vincent de Paul Society and was active in Catholic Social Services. In the 1960s, he and his family hosted many of the first wave of Cuban refugees, as well as unwed mothers from other states in their Garden Hills home on E. Wesley Road. Three years ago, the Archbishop of Miami recognized Joe for his years of service to the Hispanic community. Joe also served as a coach of Buckhead Baseball at what was then called Bagley Park. A consummate extrovert, he gave away much of what he earned or owned to those in need and never met a lady he didn't like or a tale he couldn't enhance. For years, on his daily rounds in his dairy business, he would pause and call by name all the female workers in each of the wholesale warehouses and restaurants he visited. Each day at lunchtime, he could be found on his favorite stool at his son's restaurant in Virginia-Highland, Murphy's, doling out large doses of Irish blarney to all who would listen. Joe was later married to Marie Johnson and most recently to his widow Isaura Yanez. One of his life's highlights was a 75th birthday present from his son Tom, in which Joe and wife sailed on the Queen Elizabeth II to his ancestral homeland in Ireland for 10 days. Joe is survived by his brother Brian Murphy of New York and sister Irene Murphy Hoppe, of New Jersey his six children, Brian Reddy of New York, Alice Murphy Whaley (Tim) of Atlanta, Joseph Chris Murphy (Pam) of Atlanta, Thomas Liam Murphy (Susan), Ann Marie Murphy Pendley (Clint) of Atlanta and Sarah Murphy Mandler (Chris) of New York, nine grandchildren, nine great-children . The family will receive friends this Thursday from 6-8pm at H.M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill with a rosary at 7:30 PM. The Funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of the Assumption at 10am Friday with burial following at Arlington Memorial. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the National Parkinson Foundation.