Terry R. Murphy

EAST MONTPELIER - Terry Raphael Murphy, 54, of Foster Road in East Montpelier, passed away at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington Sunday, July 15, 2012, after a valiant struggle against lung cancer.

Terry was born Sept. 8, 1957, in Providence, R.I. He was the son of Laura Colucci Murphy and Henry Murphy. He graduated from Johnston High School and attended Johnson and Wales University and the University of Rhode Island.

On Nov. 21, 1987, he married Reeva Sullivan at Christ the King Church in Wakefield, R.I. They lived in Narragansett, Newport and Portsmouth, R.I., before moving to Montpelier in 2009.

Terry worked many years as a manager in the hospitality industry in a number of venues including Murphy Caterers, the Newport Officer's Club, Roger Williams Zoo, the Melville Grille, the Atomic Grille, Epicurean Feast at American Power Conversion, and the Newport Quahog Co. in Rhode Island and Rusticos Restaurant in Essex Junction. Most recently he was the owner and proprietor of Nonno's Vermont Victuals, a gourmet food truck serving downtown Montpelier.

Terry loved to don a leather jacket and cowboy boots and ride his BMW K1200 motorcycle on Vermont's verdant highways and byways. He was quick with a joke and generous with a helping hand, a fast friend to all he met. He was a great cook and devoted to his family.

He is survived by his wife, Reeva Sullivan Murphy, of East Montpelier; his son, Cornelius Murphy, and Amy Knox, of East Montpelier; his daughter, Laura Murphy, of Huntington; and a granddaughter, Nina Lee Murphy, of East Montpelier; three sisters, Roslyn Kleffman, of Bowie, Md., Melanie Murphy, of Narragansett, R.I., and Cindy Davignon and her husband, J.R., of Johnston, R.I.; two brothers, Todd Murphy, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Rick Murphy, of Albuquerque, N.M.; cousins Ralph Colucci and his wife, Joan, of Barton, and Judy Costa and her husband, Louis, of Providence, R.I.; a mother-in-law, Winnie Sullivan, two sisters-in-law, Peggy Wark and her husband, Tom, and Marilyn Hostetler and her husband, Dean, and a brother-in-law, Michael Sullivan, and his wife, Barbara, all of Portsmouth, R.I.; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

The family is planning a celebration of Terry's life at their home in East Montpelier on Aug. 4, 2012. Details of the celebration are available at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/501706386512211/.