Darla Ann Murphy

Darla Murphy passed away peacefully in Edmonds, WA on October 2nd, 2024, due to complications from Parkinson’s. Darla led a remarkable life and touched so many people during her lifetime. A memorial service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home in Seattle on Friday October 18th at noon.

Darla was born to Nathan and Eva Swartz in Cygnet, OH on March 25th, 1939. She was the second child after her brother Dick Swartz and was followed by Bill Swartz and then the twins Gary and Larry Swartz. Later Nathan and Eva also adopted a foster daughter Leah Morris. There were other foster children that lived with them as well for various times over the years.

When Darla was eight, the family moved to Trout Lake, WA where she grew up and went to High School. Darla did exceptionally well in school and even skipped third grade. She eventually became Valedictorian of her class and spent a year at Washington State College. Darla had many great friends in Trout Lake, especially her very close girlfriends Geraldine, Jeanette and Jackie Ann.

In Trout Lake, Darla met Dean Murphy, who was two years ahead of her. It was not love at first sight. Darla despised Dean as he was a show-off that didn’t do his school work and talked too much. Dean did play basketball though and led his team to the State tournament his senior year and was named All State Honorable Mention. Dean graduated from Trout Lake High School in 1954 and promptly joined the US Navy. When Darla got back from Washington State College, she reconnected with Dean who was home from the Navy. They drove to Seattle to get their marriage license and hoped to be married on the Fourth of July. But the car broke down and so they were married on July 5th, 1957. Their witnesses were Dean’s older brother Eugene Murphy and Darla’s older brother Dick Swartz.

They originally settled in Oak Harbor, WA until Dean was honorably discharged from the Navy. They then moved to Seattle where they both got jobs at The Boeing Company along with many other family members at the time. Darla worked as a secretary in Renton and in Tukwila. It wasn’t long though until they started their family. Steve was born first, followed very shortly by Le Ann, then there was a small gap before Lori was born and then finally Sandy. Dean left Boeing and joined the Seattle Police Department while Darla stayed home to take care of the kids in the house they moved to in Mountlake Terrace. Dean had to work swing shift during many of these years, so Darla was the one in charge of all the school and sports activities. Darla made sure the kids did all their homework and did well in school. They also played many sports, but especially basketball with all four kids playing in high school and in college.

As the kids got older, Darla decided to return to the workforce. She did some part time work for her mom’s drapery business and filled in at a temporary firm for a couple years. But then she was hired by Marsh & McLennan in downtown Seattle. She spent thirteen years there before retiring as a very valuable Executive Staff member. Darla really enjoyed her time working in downtown Seattle and made many friends there as well.

Dean and Darla had many great friends in Mountlake Terrace and in the Seattle Police Department. In 1967, The Seattle Police Motorcycle Drill team went to Palm Springs, CA for the Desert Classic. The 67 Drill Team as it was known, all became friends for life with many get togethers over the years. Dean and Darla had many other great friendships during this time, especially Fred and Karen Stebbins, Jim and Marilyn Tagart along with Ivan and Barbara Feilberg.

In the early 80’s Dean and Darla started spending more time in the summers at Lake Chelan and eventually bought a lot and built a “Kabin” in Sun Cove on Lake Orondo in Douglas County. They loved spending summers there with their kids and grandkids. Eventually Dean and Darla both retired, sold the house in Mountlake Terrace and purchased a small condo in Edmonds, splitting their time between the condo and Kabin. They were very busy in their retirement and enjoyed traveling and being with their friends and family.

Tragically, Dean Murphy passed away in 2000. Darla lived for awhile between Edmonds and Orondo, but Orondo was very quiet in the wintertime. Darla really enjoyed being with people, so she made the difficult decision to sell the Kabin in Orondo. She also joined a society for widowed adults, where she met her second husband Jim DelGianni. Jim was also a recent widower with four married kids of his own Julie, Theresa, Tony and Maria. Jim and Darla were married in 2003 and bought a beautiful house together in the Edmonds Bowl with a stunning view of the Olympics and Puget Sound. Together they traveled the world including 26 cruises they went on together and many other trips with friends and family. They really cherished these trips and had many great years together.

In late 2022 Darla and Jim made the difficult decision to move to an assisted living facility in Edmonds and sold their beautiful house. They enjoyed their life together there, but Darla’s health took a turn for the worse in the Summer of 2024.

Darla was a very intelligent and remarkable woman. She had grace and was always an example of how to be a better person. She loved her friends and family. She especially enjoyed her grandkids and great grandkids. Her whole face would light up when she could see them or hear about them. She touched so many lives in her time here on earth and will be sorely missed. She is survived by her husband Jim DelGianni and his four kids Julie (David), Theresa (Todd), Tony (Denise) and Maria (Mike), along with their kids and grandkids. She is also survived by her four kids Steve Murphy (Susan); and their six kids Steve Jr (Leigha Jakious), Madison Wean (Justin), Shelby Murphy (Andrew Debo), Jake Galleryn (Martina), Robert Schmidt and Mark Schmidt; Le Ann Ellett (Fritz) and their two daughters Makenzie and Haley; Lori Roberts (Mike) and their five kids Adriene Heppner (Hannes), Derek De Leuw (Allison Barstow), Shane De Leuw (Jordan Schiaveone), Marcus Roberts and Paige Boyle (Todd); Sandra Barnes (Kevin) and their four kids Megan Kooistra (Breezy Moser), Collin Barnes (Danielle), Heather Robillard (Kyle) and Andrew Dole (Isabel Evans), along with many grand kids and great grand kids. Darla is also survived by her brothers Bill Swartz (Cherry) and Gary Swartz (Kathy), along with Leah Richardson.