Miriam A Murphy

Miriam Anne (Sweeney) Murphy, 81, passed away on Saturday, August 22, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Miriam was born on May 23, 1939, the eldest daughter of the late Dr. Joseph D. Sweeney and Helen (Callahan) Sweeney of Lowell, MA. She was raised in Lowell and graduated from Boston College in 1961 with a nursing degree. After having the opportunity to live from coast to coast, Miriam settled in Tampa with her family in 1977. Miriam or “Nana” as she was fondly known, was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who made every house where the family lived a warm and loving home. She will be dearly missed by all who were blessed to know her.

She is survived by her husband, Hugh F. Murphy, to whom she was happily married for 59 years after being sweethearts throughout high school and college; her daughters, Rosemary Horvat (Richard), Eileen Murphy, Catherine Edmonds (Robert) and her son, Hugh J. Murphy (Jennifer); grandchildren, Andrew (Natalia), Jeremy, Nathan, Nicholas, Hannah, Lily and Kathleen all of Tampa. Miriam is also survived by her brothers, Joseph D. Sweeney (Paula) of Dracut, Dr. William E. Sweeney (Marie) of Tewksbury, Attorney Thomas E. Sweeney of Lowell, and her sister, Helen C. “Cathy” Sweeney of Lowell, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. She is preceded in death by her brother, George L. Sweeney and his wife Nani of Maui, HI.

Miriam’s family has established “The Miriam Sweeney – Murphy Memorial Fund” to support the Dr. Joseph D. Sweeney Park in Lowell, MA. The fund will be administered through the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the fund by visiting www.glcfoundation.org or by check made payable to the Greater Lowell Community Foundation (name the fund in the memo section), 100 Merrimack Street, Ste 202, Lowell, MA 01852.

The family would like to thank her cardiologist, Dr Asad Sawar, and his practice for their care and kindness to Miriam and her family over the past several years.

Visitation will be held at 1:00 pm, with a service to follow, on Saturday, September 5th, at Blount-Curry Funeral Home – Carrollwood, Tampa, FL.