Liam St. John Murphy

Liam St. John Murphy of North Stamford, Conn. died Jan. 16. He was born Nov. 16, 1942 in New York City to William and Mildreda Kohn Murphy.

He grew up in Manhattan and Old Greenwich, Conn, and graduated from Parsons College, Iowa, with a bachelor's degree in political science. He served as an advisor with the U.S. Army's Phoenix Project in Vietnam from 1967-1968 and formed a close bond with the Vietnamese district chief and his family. He learned of their escape to the U.S. in 1998 and was reunited with them in California. The family's friendship with "Uncle Liam" continued to the next generation.

Liam worked for many years in the employee relocation business and founded and wrote and published two successful newsletters, The Relocation Report and Relocation Business News.

In January 1999, Liam married Linda Carpenter Leavitt of Scarsdale. His previous two marriages ended in divorce, as did Linda's previous marriage.

Liam loved travel, skiing, nature, theater and classical music. He was keenly interested in American history. For several years he enjoyed sailing on Long Island Sound with his brother and sister-in-law.

Liam prided himself on swimming for an hour without stopping, even after treatment for three cancers. He enjoyed being with his family, stepdaughters and step-grandchildren, especially during family vacations in Wellfleet, Mass. and Palm Coast, Fla and the Poconos. He was a skilled carpenter and liked to fix things. Liam served several years on the board of the Scarsdale Adult School.

He is survived by his wife and by two brothers, Rory of Palm Coast and Atlanta, Ga. and Rory's wife Mary Cahill; Morgan of Williamsville, N.Y. and Morgan's son Edward; his stepdaughters Jennifer Leavitt of Bethel, Conn. and Alison Khalaf (George) of Brooklyn and four step-grandchildren, Michael and Diana Wipf and Gavin and Olver Khalaf.

A memorial service will be held at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, Scarsdale, NY, Sunday, Feb 1 at 2 pm. Memorial donations may be made to Liam's favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders, or to the Scarsdale Woman's Club.

Arrangements are under the care of Thomas M. Gallagher Funeral Home 104 Myrtle Ave Stamford, CT. To send on-line condolences to the family, please visit www.gallagherfuneralhome.com