Grandma - I will always admire your sense of adventure. You were always willing to try something new and typically enjoyed it. I will always remember how you were one of the first to go onstage at the end of Menopause, the Musical, dancing and living it up. This is how I will remember you, smiling, dancing and having a great time. I hope that I will live to be at least half the woman you were. I love you! I will miss you! Jessica

Nana,
Thank you for always loving me.  You were such a great friend.  You played with me about anytime of day, you told me stories about yourself when I asked, and most of all, you were always happy to see me.  Thank you so much for being you.  I will always love you and miss you.
Love, Maggie

I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN NAOMI MARRIED  MY DAD....I WAS ABOUT TO GET MARRIED AND BONNIE REALLYNEEDED A MOTHER.  (YOU WERE A GOOD ONE, NAOMI.  THANKS FOR ALL YOU DID FOR BONNIE AND ME.   YOU WERE LOVED BY MANY, AND WILL BE MISSED BY MANY .

            REST IN PEACE...........BETTY

Shortly after Grandma came to Colorado to live with Mom and Dad on Bexley Street in Highlands Ranch, we all went out to dinner at a local Mexican food restaurant, which was her choice and a little strange to me.  I thought to myself, "What in the world is this woman in her eighties doing going out to eat spicy Mexican food?"  We get in to the restaurant and the waiter takes our drink order.  As we go around the table, we have the normal iced tea and coke orders.  It gets to Grandma and she orders a margarita: shock number two for me.  Somehow that wait staff at the restaurant found out it was Grandmas birthday and a group of the staff at the restaurant come over with a sombrero which Grandma happily put on as they sang a mariachi- like version of happy birthday.  So there I was, sitting in a Mexican food restaurant, looking at this woman in her eighties wearing a sombrero with a margarita bopping around in her chair to happy birthday in Spanish.  It was right then that I thought, "This was my kind of Grandma!"  As the years went by, I came to know that this kind of spirit and zest for life was just par for the course for Grandma.  

The thing that I love the most about Grandma is that I never felt like an outsider with her.  She ALWAYS treated me like I was always a part of the family and loved me from day one. She always wanted the best for me and for her entire family.  There were a lot of occasions where I saw her sacrifice so that the people she loved would be taken care of; she would bend over backwards and do anything she could to help.   This unconditional love is the thing that I will miss the most.  

I know that Grandma is looking down on us all, still loving us, still wanting the best for us, and I know she is wearing a sombrero with a margarita playing the piano at a huge party in Heaven!

Grandma, I will miss you so much.  Your generosity of spirit, perseverance, and sense of humor gave me much to try to model in my life.  I will always remember your stories of your childhood and the way you loved so deeply.  Your passion for life was contagious.  I will never forget when we brought Emma over to visit you for the first time after she was born.  You looked like you had just been given millions of dollars.  You were so proud and so loving.  I wish she could remember those moments with you.  
You cared for everyone around you and tried to help them even when it cost you a part of yourself.  You always put the needs of others above yourself.  I know you lived a difficult life and a lot of people would have probably given up or been grumpy and nasty, but you pushed right through it all and smiled so that others would be happy.  
You were always so much fun to be around.  I remember when I was in elementary school and you came to visit.  You wanted to see me all dressed up in my karate outfit.  While we were outside in our backyard, you were kicking and punching even though you didn't know what you were doing and you were in your seventies at that point.  
Your courageous and adventurous spirit inspires me today.  Painting your house in your seventies, going for benefit walks in your nineties, trying new things and learning new ways to live.  I'm so proud that you were my grandma.  I love you and I will miss you always.  Jackie

Thank you Mom for all the support you have given me throughout the years. I will always remember all the movies we watched and laughed at, even the few we cried through.  I will miss you.

Mom...thanks for all the love & suport through the years and all the memories we shared together. we love you so much and always will. your in our hearts forever.....   Love always, Karen and Dean

"Love you Grandma! Thanks for being the best Grandma that a grandson could ever have. Thanks for all the memories that i was able to share with you as well. Your were a very "SPECIAL GRANDMA" that touched so many of our lives and we all have to Say a Big THanks" Love you always, Joey

   Grandma Murphy was a truly wonderful woman.  She was a beautiful woman full of life and energy.  I cannot recall any time spent with her that she had not brought some joy into my life and the people around her.  
   Some of my earliest memories of her go back to when I was a child.  I remember visiting her at her home in Arizona for Christmas when I was eight years old.  I remember her passion for playing the piano.  I don't believe she could read music, but she played like a professional and danced and bobbed while she recalled very exciting ballads of earlier decades.  Other odd memories from those days include that she loved ginger ale and playing cards.  I remember many of the solitaire card games she taught me from back then.  She lived rather simply, but very beautifully.  
   She loved others unconditionally and put so much of her time in making sure that others were happy and in good health.  Another fond memory of her was pre-9/11 when you could meet someone at the airport terminal and watch as they exited the airplane.  Despite the looks from people around her, she came out of the terminal walking a goofy looking marionette just to make us girls smile.  She looked so silly but came out with such a large smile and displayed such love for life.  Her smile was contagious.
   She was a truly ornery woman too.  Her later years in life, I called her my "pitbull" as a result of her stubbornness, protectiveness, and loving demeanor.  She would just giggle about it and continue her stubborn streaks.  Well, my little pitbull, even though you did not quite make it to 100 like you once wanted, you lived a beautiful life, full of trials, challenges, happy times, good family, and in amazingly good health for the majority of your life.  I can see you up in heaven now, getting others to smile and laugh around you.  You were an amazing woman and you will always be missed.  We love you so much Grandma.  Please walk with God now, in good health and with the passion you once had.  We love you now and always.

Love always,
Katie Hagaman

I love u so much grandma u are in my prayer and thoughts too. U was the best grandma I ever had. Love u.  Love ur grand daughter kristy

grandma. I love when u made butterscotch crunchies and homeade m&m cookies for us. U will be sadly miss in my heart. U made me smile and laugh and the good memories we had. Love u so much. Love kristy

Love you Grandma! I will always remember your piano playing!!!!

So sorry for your loss Amanda , Amber and Sharon.

Enjoyed taking care of you and all the fun times we shared.
Sonya, Victoria, & Ebony Finchlanding Caregivers

Thanks Grandma for all the memories I have of you and for just being you.  Love you.

Thank you Mom for all of your patience, wisdom, guidance and love that you bestowed upon me. I am grateful for all that you have done in my best interest and I shall not forget as long as I live.

Love always, Wayne

OBITUARY

Laura N. Murphy

9 January, 1920 – 14 November, 2012

Tobias Funeral Home - Beavercreek Chapel

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