- Date Of Birth: May 22, 1935
- Date Of Death: October 14, 2017
- State: New Jersey
Joseph Francis Murphy of Ridgewood, NJ died on October 14, 2017, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was born to Frank and Florence Murphy on May 22, 1935, in Kingsbridge, Bronx, NY. He and his sister Dorothy grew up in the tight-knit neighborhood of Kingsbridge surrounded by his aunts, uncles, and cousins. He received a full scholarship to the prestigious Regis High School in New York City then another full scholarship to Fordham University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Communication Arts in 1957. He was both Sports Editor and Managing Editor of the Fordham Ram.
After graduating he was accepted at the Columbia School of Journalism, but instead began a long career in publishing, first as an editor at the Prentice Hall company in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, then in the College Division at McGraw-Hill in New York where he was employed for over 32 years. He started as an editor and worked his way up to Senior Editing Manager. Joe had a unique eye for editing large text books ranging in subjects from history to science to economics, and was widely respected and admired by his colleagues. He retired from McGraw-Hill in 1997 but continued to work as a freelancer until 2013. Joe taught his children the value of a strong work ethic as he never missed a day of work.
In 1961, he married Mary Ellen Brown of Ridgewood, NJ. They raised three children, Chris, Paul, and MaryBeth, in Ridgewood. Along with his loving wife and children he leaves his daughters-in-law Elaine and Kathy as well as son-in-law Mark Seibel and six grandchildren, Sean, Charlie, and Julia Murphy, and Griffin, Bridget, and Genny Seibel. He also leaves 14 nieces and nephews.
Joseph was a brilliant and witty man who loved music, books, film, Broadway, and the NY Yankees. He was the keeper of the facts and a lover of words.
