Arthur Lister Murphy

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Arthur Lister Murphy Jr., who died peacefully at the age of 87 in the early hours of Friday, 7 February 2025, while receiving care at the QEII-Infirmary hospital in Halifax

Arthur was born and raised in Halifax, first son and namesake of noted surgeon and playwright Arthur L. Murphy. Though born into a family where medicine was something of a tradition, Arthur’s talents took him in another direction – one that foregrounded philosophy, theology, and above all, a perduring love of French culture and language.

His association with Saint Mary’s University ran deep. First educated there when the institution was still a high school, he went on to receive a BA degree from the fledgling university in 1958. Following a year abroad, he continued his education by earning an MA in French from McGill University in Montréal. After cutting his professorial teeth with a teaching stint at Colby College in Pittsfield, Maine, he found himself again in Montréal, this time at Sir George Williams University (now part of Concordia). It was while teaching there that Arthur met Patricia Hunt, who had been conducting graduate work at McGill. He all but proposed marriage to the night they met – a true case of love at first sight. After a short engagement they married in her hometown of Warwick, Rhode Island in May 1967. Following the birth of their son, Liam, in 1968, the couple moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where their daughter, Susannah, was born in 1969. Once back in Nova Scotia, Arthur began his career in earnest as a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics at Saint Mary’s - a position he held until his retirement in 2002.

Arthur first became enamored of France while on a high school trip. After completing his BA, he spent a year in Grenoble - a transformative experience he spoke of fondly throughout his life. In later years, his singular fluency in the French language led many among his French friends and acquaintances to observe that he spoke their language with virtually no trace of an Anglo-Canadian accent. In 1987 he returned to France to spend a sabbatical year supervising several university students in Angers (this time with Pat, Liam, and Susannah in tow), and returned many times thereafter for briefer sojourns.

Early in his career as a professor at Saint Mary’s, Arthur undertook an MA degree in Theology and Religion from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, an academic journey that deepened his familiarity with early twentieth-century French theology generally and the Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin in particular. From the 1970s through the 1990s, he served as a lay minister of the eucharist at Canadian Martyrs Parish Church near Saint Mary’s campus – occasionally ministering to the ill and dying in hospital and hospice. From the 2000s, Arthur continued in this vein by volunteering (alongside Pat) at the Daily Bread Outreach Program, an initiative of Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica. Though committed to what he viewed as the core principles of the catholic tradition in which he was raised, Arthur maintained an ambivalent position towards the Catholic Church in the later years of his life, and often opted to attend Anglican services instead.

A man of great intellect, sophistication, and privilege, Arthur was ever a man of the arts. He was a devotee of the classical music traditions – loving in equal measure plainsong and chant, on the minimalist end, and the great Romantic operas of Richard Wagner at the other extreme. For many years, he rarely missed a holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah by Symphony Nova Scotia. Arthur’s ‘hi-brow’ tastes were offset by a self-effacing stance towards the world, not to mention a wry and often earthy sense of humor. He hibernated in winter, lived for the sun, and for much of his life enjoyed a nightly glass of Bordeaux (and in earlier decades, a Rothman's cigarette) – preferably in the company of family and his many friends. In retirement, Arthur and Patricia traveled the world for some twenty years, occasionally with one of their (by then) adult children, and even with grandchild, Dallas. Fittingly, his final trip abroad was to France in 2017 in the company of his wife, both children, and grandchild. For the many who loved him, Arthur will be remembered as a man who radiated genuine wisdom, warmth, and compassion.

Arthur is survived by wife Patricia Murphy (née Hunt), children Liam Murphy and Susannah Murphy [Kyle Burley], grandchild Dallas Murphy, nephew Gavin Murphy [Tammy Austen], nieces Joanna Barrett (née Murphy) [Christopher Barrett], Alexandra Sabella (née Carr) [Joe Sabella], and Christina Carr, and cousin Meredyth Rochman (née Mitchell). Arthur was predeceased by his parents Arthur L. Murphy Sr. and Mary Sylvia Murphy (née Shore), sister Joanne Murphy, brother Paul M. Murphy [Kim Squires], and former sister-in-law Mary G. Murphy.

A funeral mass will be held at Saint Mary's Cathedral Basilica on May 24th at 2pm, with celebration-of-life to follow (details to follow).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests you make a contribution in Arthur’s name to the Daily Bread Outreach Program at St Mary's Cathedral Basilica, 5221 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 1Z3. To donate online go to https://www.halifaxyarmouth.org/cathedral/donate-now and select The Daily Bread Outreach Fund