Eva V Murphy

Eva Vela Murphy

November 13, 1936 — September 12, 2025

Eva Vela Murphy was born on November 13, 1936 in Edinburg, TX. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rafael Vela Cardenas and Marta Hinojosa, her husband, James Murphy, and her siblings, Teodora, Rafael III, Crisanto and Carmen. She is survived by her children, John (Samantha) Murphy and Sarah (Joe) Lehman, and grandchildren, Lindsey and Sean Murphy and Allison Lehman.

After graduating from Pan American College in 1961 (now University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley) in Edinburg, Texas, she worked as a teacher in Austin, Texas. She met her husband, Jim, in 1963 through a friend who was married to one of his coworkers at the U.S. General Accounting Office and they were married in December of 1964. Jim and Eva lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. for a year before moving to New Carrollton, MD. In New Carrollton, she became active in the Garden Club and was involved in the establishment in 1976 of the Bicentennial Gardens on Westbrook Drive. Eva supported the March of Dimes and, as a cancer survivor, was active in the American Cancer Society Reach to Recovery Program offering peer emotional support to help fellow breast cancer survivors. She was also very involved with the Maryland Coalition Against Pornography (M-CAP).

In her professional career, Eva taught at the former Mount Rainier Junior High, but stopped working full time to raise her two children. She occasionally worked as a substitute teacher at St. Bernard’s Parish School (in addition to helping out as a homeroom mom and chaperone for field trips for her children’s classes). Once her children were older, Eva returned to teaching in the Prince George’s County Public School System’s Home and Hospital Teaching Program until her retirement.

Since moving to New Carrollton, the Murphys became parishioners of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church in Riverdale, where they were both very active. Her faith was central in her life and she felt a strong calling to put it in action. Among her volunteer accomplishments for St. Bernard’s, Eva: taught every Sunday for many years in the parish’s CCD program, eventually serving for several years as its Principal; helped establish the school’s primary fundraiser, the Art Show & Auction, which she chaired for several years; established a VHS tape video library so parishioners could borrow and have access to wholesome entertainment that they could enjoy with their families; and brought perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to the parish and helped coordinate coverage for many years.

Next to God, she enjoyed being a wife, a mother and a grandmother. Eva was a people person and very much enjoyed talking and spending time with the many friends that she made over the years. Her friendliness was infectious. She was loved and will be missed by many.

The viewing will be held at Gasch’s Funeral Home in Hyattsville, MD on Friday, September 19, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM. The funeral mass will be at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Riverdale, MD on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 8:00 AM, followed immediately by interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, MD, which will commence at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation (www.parkinson.org), or St Paul’s Catholic School in Fenton, Missouri.