James Francis Murphy IV

'A Smiling Soul'

On Friday, Sept. 7, Jim Murphy got up early to catch a flight to Dallas. His limo never came. So at 6 a.m., he woke his mother, Helen Marie Murphy, and asked her to take him to the airport. Except that he insisted on taking his car, a beloved new Volkswagen Passat, and doing the driving himself. "It was hysterical," said Mr. Murphy's mother, recalling how he wove in and out of the traffic at a furious speed. "I said, 'Jimmy, if you don't slow down, you won't have a mother, a car or a flight.' "

But Mr. Murphy, a 30-year-old account manager at Thomson Financial and habitually late for everything, was coolly confident, arriving at the airport with six minutes to spare. By Sunday night, he was back at his parents' kitchen table on Long Island — where he and his wife, Jeanine, and four gregarious older sisters, liked to gather — with a pair of turquoise and silver earrings and an apology for his mom. "I know it was the ride from hell," he told her, more amused than contrite.

It was his upbeat, teasing manner that won over his wife, whom he met at college in Maryland. As she put it: "He was a very genuine person, warm and comfortable to be around. He was not a saint, but he had a smiling soul."

Married in 1999, Mr. Murphy and his wife were living temporarily with his parents while repainting a new apartment in Mineola. But on Sept. 11, Mr. Murphy attended a trade show at the World Trade Center.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 9, 2001.


MURPHY-James Francis IV. 30, of Garden City, LI, died Tuesday, September 11, in the World Trade Center. Jim, who worked for Thomson Financial was attending a trade show on the 106th floor in Tower 1. Born in Rockville Centre, NY, on February 12, 1971, Jim was raised and attended school in Garden City, then graduated in 1993 from Mt. St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD, where he met his wife, Jeanine (nee Kelly), and the two were married on May 1, 1999, at St. Rose of Lima in North Wales, PA. His parents, James F. and Helen Marie Murphy's only son, Jim is survived by four adoring older sisters, Kathleen Murphy of NYC, Elizabeth Cooke of Pacific Palisades, CA, Helen Marie Sweeney of Garden City, LI, and Kristin Hubschman of Williston Park, LI. He was a loving uncle to Emily, Sophie, Luke, Kate, Colin and Andrew. Jim will be greatly missed as well by all his cousins, aunts and uncles including Msgr. John Fagan, Msgr. Emmet Fagan, Jane Fucigna, Sr. Kathleen Fagan, RSHM, Jack Murphy, Rosemarie Codus, and Ed Murphy. He will always be remembered for his sense of humor, his deep love for his wife and family, his cherished friends, and his joy in playing golf. A memorial Mass will be held on Wednesday, September 19, at 2 PM at St. Joseph's R.C. Church at 450 Franklin Ave. in Garden City. The family asks that in lieu of flowers donations may be made to Little Flower Children's Services, Wading River, NY 11792. God is holding Jim's hand, we now ask that He hold ours.