A. Richard Murphy

1934 - 2021

A. Richard Murphy
A. Richard Murphy, born on April 10th, 1934, passed away on April 11, 2021 in Peterborough, NH. The evening before, he celebrated his 87th Birthday in his cottage at RiverMead, the retirement community where he lived for the past five years, enjoying the companionship of new friends. Earlier that day, he spent his birthday reminiscing with his brother, John, and reflecting back on lives well-lived. Richard and Mimi lived in New Canaan for twenty years, raising their family in New Canaan, before retiring to New Hampshire.
Known as Richard in his formative years, he was the eldest of two sons born to Jeanette Thomas and Albert Anthony Murphy. They resided in Yonkers, NY. His summers were fondly remembered as part of an extended family in New Brunswick, Canada, working on his Uncle Allison's farm, riding a tractor and harvesting hay, haunting his Aunt Nell's kitchen for homemade donuts and pie and fishing and swimming in nearby streams with his many cousins.
His parents instilled the ideals that would launch Richard from Gorton High School to Tufts University, spurred on by his mother's firm belief in the merit of academic achievement and his father's buoyant optimism. These values became the warp and woof of Richard's life. At Tufts, where he adopted the name Dick, he played first base on the Jumbo's baseball team, became president of Delta Upsilon fraternity and, most consequentially, met Miriam Harlow, his future wife. Mimi and Dick were married on July 26, 1958.
At Tufts, Dick also initiated his career. Grabbing a tweed jacket from a fraternity brother, he took one of the last interview slots for IBM, then a new computer company. The interview turned out well, and he spent the next years at IBM during one of the most dramatic periods of change witnessed by the technology industry. He would go on to leadership roles in sales in various cities across the Northeast, moving into the burgeoning field of human resources where he headed that function for IBM in Asia and eventually helped organize the lift-out of IBM's printer business, known as Lexmark, when it became an independent public company headquartered in Greenwich, CT. He retired from Lexmark in 1991, enjoying that milestone with little fanfare at a quiet dinner with his family.
Dick leavened his life mid-career by listening to the wisdom of Mimi and building a house on Black Cat Island, New Hampshire. At the northern tip of Lake Winnipesaukee and the base of New Hampshire's White Mountains, the Lake house provided simple pleasures such as morning swims out to the mooring buoy and wine and cheese on the dock as the sun started its westward slide. The "Whites" held more daunting challenges as he and Mimi started tackling New Hampshire's forty-eight 4,000 foot peaks recognized by the Appalachian Mountain Club, first with their children and then on their own. He completed his last summit with Mimi, Owl's Head, after fording several streams and enduring an 18 mile hike on 9/11 in 2015, accompanied by his son and two granddaughters. This determination was recognized by the AMC with a standing ovation at their 2016 annual meeting when Dick and Mimi learned they were the oldest couple to complete this mark since records were maintained.
The years following his business career were a full-time return to his first love: his family. He watched his three children welcome 8 grandchildren into the family, providing his blend of wise counsel that would result in numerous remarks remembered by those grandchildren as they grew into adults under the strong influence of their "Grandpa". Chief among those insights was "make every decision the right decision", a phrase that encouraged reflection over impulse. During his summers, he undertook painting under the tutelage of New Hampshire artist, Loren Percy, developing an impressive body of work in oil paints that grace the walls of his children in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine.
Dick took an active interest in the education of his grandchildren, as he did with his three children; and he closely followed their progress through their undergraduate studies, proudly donning a collection of sweatshirts and dropping by their campuses for visits or off-campus dinners.
Through over fifty years of married life and fatherhood, and nearly four decades in corporate roles, Dick navigated the process through commitment, steadfast belief in his core principles, and a willingness to chart that course he believed was the right course. His departure from our lives was sudden, but the imprint on each of us will remain in our memories and actions forever.
Dick was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Miriam Harlow Murphy. He is survived by his brother John T. Murphy, his son, John (Tucker), and children Will (Sophia) and Rachel, his daughter, Debbie (Stu), and children Abbey (Ted), Paul, and Anne, and his son, Bill (Sarah) and children Carolyn (Andrew), Ben, and Kate.
Dick will be remembered at a service at 11:00 AM on June 19, 2021 at the First Congregational Church of Hopkinton at 1548 Hopkinton Road, Contoocook, NH. The family has requested that gifts in his memory be made to the Appalachian Mountain Club, 10 City Square, Boston Mass., 02129 or the First Congregational Church of Hopkinton, NH Choir Fund, 1548 Hopkinton Road, Contoocook, NH ,03229.