Linda Catherine Murphy

Linda Catherine Murphy, self-identified alien from outer space, returned to her place amongst the stars Monday, July 25th, 2022 after a battle with brain cancer.


Though her body has been decommissioned, she has assured us via nickels and hummingbirds that she is fine and happy to be back with her kind.


Catherine's body was born to Betty Jean Murphy and John Barry Murphy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on December 4th, 1953. Much like the way she traveled the universe in her spaceship, she wanted a body that would travel the world, and being born into a military family did just that. She lived all over the US and Europe as a military brat.


Catherine spent much of her young years in Toms River, NJ along with her 5 other surviving siblings. She had wild times as a bartender in Red Bank, a fact that she made sure to tell her daughter's boyfriend, but never her daughter.


As with most aliens, the driving force for Catherine in her life was her thirst for knowledge, a sustenance she could never get enough of. Over the course of her life she got many degrees, a bachelor's and two Master's, and several certifications in many disciplines including real estate and massage therapy.


She tried the marriage thing for a bit and decided she wasn't ready for that, and in time got a job that took her back to her alien roots – more traveling!


She spent time in Spain and the Philippines, and then Indonesia, Singapore, and Hong Kong where she again tried the marriage thing. Yet again, not for her. But from this experience came a child, her daughter Cassandra, alien status still pending.


Cassandra was Catherine's favorite earthling to share her experiences and information with. A teaching experience that she thrived in. She loved to make her watch all her favorite movies and listen to her favorite music, and taught her life lessons in her unique alien style. Much like how Catherine kept a log of her journeys, she made her young daughter keep a journal reflecting on what she did wrong as a child and how she could rectify it.


She taught her daughter nothing of societal norms and understandings, probably because she didn't know them as she was not from this planet. An example of this was a conversation she had with her when she was 5 where Catherine said, "If you want to say f--- say f---, it's just a word."


As Catherine continued on her journey she moved to Georgia and ran into a true friend, Jana Broder. Perhaps an innocuous meeting at first because she was just her boss, but this became one of the great true friendships in time.


The two friends shared a love for Catherine's daughter Cassandra, but also yearned to build a community. All together, the 3 moved to California to try to achieve that goal and so that Catherine could continue to learn as she received a Master's in Holistic Health from John F. Kennedy University.


So many friends were gained in California. In hindsight, maybe one of Catherine's favorite stops in her earthly body. It was a place she could really let her inner alien out and dance and wear any pairing of colors or patterns she desired.


Forward in the spaceship to Brandon, Florida, where the group would do their best to make a community there. Unfortunately, a business of health and community was tried too early before the region was ready for it, and Catherine decided to take a job where her knowledge could be passed on.


She entered the school system, a realm where she would work for the rest of her life, and meet many friends and people who immediately recognized how weird she was.


It was somewhere around 2017 when Catherine decided she was too far away from her daughter and that she would move to where she lived in Connecticut. Catherine's bond to the only other part-alien life force was very important to her.


This time, it turns out, was a blessing, as Catherine spent the last 5 years of her exploration time on Earth with her daughter, getting to meet her friends and her boyfriend, Josuel, all of whom she always raved about. We can't also forget Cassandra's dog Sweeney, perhaps the alien's most beloved being, "I hope I die before that dog," she would say, and as usual, she was right.


Catherine's earthly body started glitching in February and her family quickly assembled to take care of her the best they could. In this time the alien felt the last thing she needed to find on her exploration to-do list: an abundance of love.


With her mission complete, Catherine ascended, ready for another adventure in another realm, her family desperately missing the light she brought to this one.


She is survived by her daughter Cassandra and her boyfriend Josuel; an amazing best friend Jana and her wife Kimberly; her mother Betty Jean; her brother John Murphy and his wife Jan; her sister Debbie and husband Mike; her brother Pat and his wife Sue; her sister Judy and husband Jeff; her other sister Mary Lou and her husband Gary.


She was preceded in the end of her journey by her father John Barry and her stepmother Dot.


Her family will be holding a celebration of life at Sea Tea Comedy Theater in Hartford, Connecticut on August 13th, 2022 at 1 pm. Wacky attire encouraged.


An additional service will be held in Toms River, NJ on August 28th, 2022, 1pm at The Silverton Fire House. 15 Kettle Creek Rd, Toms River.