Mary E. Murphy

Mary Eileen (Combe) Murphy
November 28, 1924—April 15, 2018
Mary E. Murphy died peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends on April 15, 2018 after a long illness.  She was 93.  
Mary was a survivor, a kind but tough woman with a big smile, a great laugh and a generous soul.  Suddenly widowed at the age of 34, Mary focused on her young family and poured her heart into raising her six children, ensuring their education and well-being into adulthood.
Born to Mary (Nixon) and William Combe on November 28, 1924 in Richmond Hill, Queens, Mary along with her two sisters and brother were raised in the same house her Scottish grandparents built near a farm in 1903.   A 1942 graduate of John Adams High School, Mary began her professional career at the Manufacturer’s Hanover Trust Bank in the Empire State Building in New York City.  
In 1947, Mary married Robert H. Murphy and began to raise a family in Queens.  After the birth of their third child, Mary and Bob moved to Hicksville, New York.  Two more daughters followed before Bob suddenly died from lingering effects of rheumatic fever contracted while serving in the U.S. Navy.  Mary was two months pregnant with their sixth child.  She raised all six children in her homes in Hicksville and in Mayfield, New York, on the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondacks.
As a single mother of a growing family, Mary returned to work in the Jericho Public School system, attended and graduated from Nassau Community College and subsequently worked for Grumman Northrup until she retired in 1990.  
She leaves behind a legacy of quirky kindness mixed with crazy, skewed observations on a wide variety of subjects, great and awful funny stories—mostly true—and a family that adored her.
“They lived and laughed and loved and left.”—James Joyce
She is survived by her children, Ellen Claire Porter (Richard), Robert (Debbie), Gary (Jason La Padura), Marybeth Krummenacker, Eileen Glueckert (Alan) and William (Cynthia), nine grandchildren Rick and Matt Porter, Sean Murphy, Brian and Laura Krummenacker, Katie Etter, Kevin Glueckert, Claire Strechenbach and Emily Murphy.  She is also survived by five great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, her sister-in-law Claire and her husband Fred Frey, and a world of friends.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Memory of Mary E. Murphy to Cystinosis Research Network 302 Whytegate Court, Lake Forest, IL. 60045.  www.cystinosis.org
Viewing will be held Thursday, April 19 from 2-5PM and 7-9PM at Thomas F. Dalton Funeral Home, 47 Jerusalem Road, Hicksville, NY 11801.  Services will be held on Friday, April 20 at 9:45AM at St. Ignatius Church in Hicksville followed by interment at St. Charles Cemetery.