Stanley Lee Murphy

Stanley Lee Murphy, 89, passed away on July 22, 2024, surrounded by his family. He was born on December 19, 1934, to the late Ed and Emma Murphy. He was known as Stan and Murph by his loved ones and friends. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, and community member.
Stan will be lovingly remembered for many things - among them his strong love for his family and friends, his dedication to always finding a way to share his time with others, his incredible passion for helping others, his ability to try to fix and help with anything and everything, his wonderful sense of humor and joy of sharing jokes to bring laughter to others.
Stan grew up in Rheems with his parents and six siblings and later in life he moved with his wife and children to the Harrisburg area. Stan was a great student, talented athlete, and an incredibly hard worker his entire life. He made sure that he could provide for and support his family from a very young age. He had a very successful career with Gillette for 35 years and retired in 1994. While he had tremendous success professionally, he always made sure to put his family first. After retiring from Gillette, Stan continued to work hard (maybe even more than he did while actively holding a professional career) and dedicated his years in retirement to supporting, helping and volunteering with his family, friends, church, social services and various people in the community. Stan's passion for helping others was profound. In retirement, Stan taught himself how to navigate various social service, medical, retirement, and other systems to support people who found themselves in unfortunate life circumstances or at the end of their life. Stan often stepped in as an advocate for those who did not have someone who could fulfill that role. He frequently visited local retirement communities and medical facilities throughout his weeks and made himself available to transport various people to where they needed to go.
Time spent with family and friends was one of Stan's favorite past times and he made sure to attend every activity and event to support them. Stan was always present and available to his loved ones. His greatest joy was bringing family and friends together to share a delicious meal at local restaurants, and he would do this several times a week. He coordinated various family gatherings, bringing family from near and far together. Stan loved God and always strove to live life as His faithful servant. Stanley was actively involved in attending and supporting his local church throughout his life and for over 60 years he was an active member of Grace United Methodist Church in Lemoyne. He loved watching and playing sports and spent many years organizing and playing in local softball leagues doing so just up until a few years ago. He thoroughly enjoyed a competitive game of pinochle, poker, and bingo and other games with family and friends.
Stan will be missed dearly by his family, friends, and local community. He is survived by his loving wife of 19 years, Cathy. He was a proud father to his two daughters, Tammy Kolb, Lisa Murphy, and one son, Kevin Murphy. He was a loving grandfather and great-grandfather to 2 granddaughters, Mandy Kolb Lyons, Sara Shaffer, and 5 great-grandchildren, Skylar, Parker, Ava, Carson, and Cayden.
In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring Stan's memory by making a donation in his name to Family Promise https://www.familypromisehcr.org/donate, the Bethesda Mission https://www.bethesdamission.org/take-action/donate/ or a local charity or social service program of your choosing. His family also asks that you honor Stan by completing an act of kindness to help someone else.