Mary Murphy

Mary Jean Murphy (MJ) died on Sunday, May 24, 2020, of complications from heart disease.

She was born in Clinton, OK, in 1937 to Mary Ruscha Murphy and Eugene R. Murphy. She was the oldest of six children. All her life she was independent, adventuresome, and capable. Her early life was spent moving through Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and South Carolina, as is usually the life of a military brat. The family always returned to Monett, Missouri, which was the home of her mother. There she was surrounded by grandparents, many wonderful aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins.

Life was great in that Ozarks town; it was the best place in the world to grow up. MJ always had a job, including picking field crops and working in her father’s grocery store, and she always helped her parents with the younger children. There was no lack of work ethic in the Murphy clan. The Girl Scout organization taught her many practical skills. She was born, raised, and died a Republican. In 1954 the family moved to Munich, Germany, which changed all their lives. MJ graduated from Munich American High School. Her first job was with Radio Free Europe, where she worked with many of the exiles who escaped from behind the Iron Curtain. This was a formative time in her life and made her an implacable foe of communism and other totalitarian regimes. Altogether, she spent five years living in Germany, and then later at Wheelus AFB, in Tripoli, Libya, where she experienced life in a Muslim country. The only place that could rival all these experiences was Los Angeles, where she had a great life for three decades.

She worked as a secretary for the US Air Force and for some of the great aerospace corporations: Hughes, North American Aviation, TRW, and Aerospace Corp. During those years, she continued to work on her education, attending college in the evenings and taking government contract classes. Eventually, she got into the government contract field and retired as an administrative contract officer. MJ was always athletic and excelled in competitive tennis, running, hiking, and walking. Later she had to be content with hiking, swimming, walking, and working out in the gym. She was an avid Dodgers fan and a shareholder of the Green Bay Packers.

She was married and divorced during this time. She was a good cook who loved to entertain and be entertained, especially when good wine or Scotch was involved. Reading was always her favorite hobby. In 1977 she decided to go on a Grand Canyon river trip and met the man of her dreams, Pat Tierney, who was a river guide and a fireman with the Los Angeles Fire Department. They married and were together for 25 years, until his death in 2002. He was also an adventurer and traveler, and together they enjoyed many years of RVing all over the United States, learning about American history and seeing how people all over the US lived. They also shared many wonderful overseas trips. They moved to Albuquerque in 1987.

MJ was a stepmother to Pat’s three daughters, and then grandmother to six grandchildren and great-grandmother to 14 children. They also had two wonderful dogs, Zia and Charlie Brown, who they loved and cherished. Pat was a bagpiper with the Ballut Abyad Pipe Band, so bagpiping was a big part of their life. MJ moved to Las Vegas for a couple of years after Pat’s death, then returned to Albuquerque, where she moved into La Vida Llena which was a comfortable home for her. She was a dedicated volunteer worker for many years, including at the Braille Institute of Los Angeles, Traveler’s Aid at LAX, 12 valuable years of working with abused and abandoned children at All Faiths Receiving Home, nine years as a court appointed special advocate, and six years as a member of the Citizen Review Board. She worked at Chelwood School as a teacher’s aide with second graders and at Faith Lutheran Elementary School in Las Vegas. During her time in Las Vegas, she was a member of the Sun City Security Patrol and the Sun City Charities. After moving back to Albuquerque, she was a volunteer at the VA Hospital as an escort and at the information desk and as a greeter at the Nuclear Museum. She also volunteered at her church, Grace Lutheran. At La Vida Llena, she was on the Building and Grounds Committee, the Health Care Renovation Committee, and 2017 Remodel Task Force, the Fitness Center Committee, and the General Store and was chair of the Library Committee.

She is survived by her siblings, Pat, Jim, Kathy, and Jason; by her niece Angela and nephews Gene, David, and Michael; and by her stepdaughters, Kitty, Debbie, and Jennifer and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Pat Tierney; and her sister Anne. She happily converted to the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and was a member of Grace Lutheran Church, which supported her faith and provided stability in her old age. MJ met her good friend Art Schreiber in the gym at La Vida Llena, and they enjoyed many years of love, laughter, and arguing politics.

She is also survived by her many friends in Albuquerque and all over the United States. Her neighbors and her friends in her Book Club were so important in her life, especially after Pat died, as were the many friendly people she met at La Vida Llena. She goes to join Pat, other members of her family, and all the wonderful people that she loved and cherished during her life. FRENCH has handled the cremation and Mary Jean will be honored at a group memorial to be held at La Vida Llena in the future as public health protection protocols allow.