Dorothy Jewel "Mimi" Murphy

MURPHY, Dorothy Jewel 'Mimi' Mrs. Dorothy Jewel "Mimi" Murphy died peacefully at home in Rohnert Park on Saturday, October 9, 2010. She was 89. Family was very important to Mrs. Murphy, whom her family called Mimi. She was the matriarch of the Murphy clan of Sonoma County, and she loved nothing more than having her children, grand children, and great-grand children around her. She also loved a dry Martini with lots of olives, the drier the better, and a game of Pinochle with her friends in the Royal Oaks Mobile Home Park in Petaluma. Mrs. Murphy was born in 1921 in San Francisco and lived all her life in Northern California. In addition to the City By the Bay, she lived in Tiburon, Petaluma and Rohnert Park. In the early part of her life, Mrs. Murphy lived on The Avenues in San Francisco. Later she moved to Tiburon, where for more than 40 years she lived on Juno Road, near Blackie's Pasture, where she raised her three children and saw Marin County explode in growth. Her small home on Juno was for generations the gathering point for all holidays, and all members of the extended Murphy clan have fond memories of it, particularly the large (and loud) holiday dinners around the long table near the kitchen, and anyone who knew her will carry the memory of her belly laugh to their grave. Other staples of Mrs. Murphy's home were the ever-present bowls of candy that beckoned from the coffee table, the big backyard divided by a huge hedge and her ingenious way of hiding Easter eggs. She moved to Petaluma in 1987. While raising a family, Mrs. Murphy also worked for several years at Fidelity Savings and Loan in Mill Valley. Mrs. Murphy was married to her second husband, the late Joseph Murphy, for 56 years. They met shortly after World War II, where Joe had a distinguished military career that included extensive service in Northern Africa and Europe. After raising their family, Mrs. Murphy and her husband were avid square dancers for many years, crisscrossing the state in their RV to attend square dancing events. After her husband's death, Mrs. Murphy took many excursions with the Day Trippers group out of Santa Rosa. Mrs. Murphy's oldest son Joe, of Sebastopol, died in February 2008. She is survived by daughter Carole Bratton of Rohnert Park, her daughter De De Teeters of Seattle, son Tom Dunlap and wife Charlotte of Aptos and their son Paul; Carole's daughter Pamela Roth and her husband Robert of Rohnert Park, and their children Tim, Meghan and Caroline. Mimi is also survived by son Jon S. Murphy of Sacramento; Joe's wife Vicki of Sebastopol, daughter Molly and her husband John Eleen of Davis, and their daughter Kennedy; their son Ryan and his wife Elin of Point Arena, their children Sophia and Ethan. Mimi is also survived by many cousins and long-time friends. A memorial service will be Friday, October 22nd, at 2:00 p.m., at Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, 5475 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park, CA. Donations are preferred to Neighbors Organized Against Hunger (NOAH), PO Box 2955, Rohnert Park, CA 94927, or to your local food bank.