Alma Marie Murphy

Davenport – Alma Marie Murphy died peacefully from age-related natural causes on Tuesday, December 15, 2015, just two days short of her 90th birthday. She passed away at 4:20 p.m. at The Kahl Home where she has resided for the past 13 months.

Alma was born and raised in the area of St. Patrick, Missouri, to William Gabriel (Gabe) Logsdon and Nora Ann (Uhlmeyer) Logsdon. She was the fourth of ten children. Five of her brothers preceded her in death: John William, Joseph LeRoy, Thomas Dempsey, James Ervin and Robert Francis. She is survived by her only sister, Sister Edna Pauline Logsdon, a Catholic nun with the Order of St. Francis in Clinton. And she is survived by three brothers: Bernard Gabriel Logsdon and Stephen Jennings Logsdon of Keokuk, and by Donald Lee Logsdon of Moline.

She married her teenage sweetheart James Martin Murphy on February 8, 1945. Jim died of cancer on September 15, 1960. Alma and Jim had six children, one of whom–James Patrick Murphy–passed away in St. Louis on June 14, 2007 at age 60. Their other five children have obediently survived their mother–as she ordered them to do on multiple occasions. They are: Michael Stephen Murphy of Moline; Thomas Joseph Murphy of Davenport; Timothy Roger Murphy of Durant and his twin brother Daniel Robert Murphy of Davenport; and the jewel of the family Susan Elizabeth Murphy of Davenport.

Alma is also survived by a great number of descendants, to numerous to list, each of whom was precious to “Grandma Al”.

Alma graduated from St. Patrick’s High School and then attended college at Mount St. Claire College in Clinton. During her marriage she did accounting and taxation preparation work for her husband and others while rearing her six children. Following the early death of her husband Jim, she expanded her accounting and related work into her sole proprietorship business Midwest Accounting and Taxation Services, small to medium sized businesses so that she could do much of the work at home while her raising school-aged children.

After her children left home, Alma expanded her business activities to include accounting services for larger businesses, which led to her becoming the office manager of Orthopaedic Surgeons Associates in that medical group’s early decades.

In addition to raising children, working in accounting in her own business and as an employee of several other businesses, Alma traveled to distant locations on the planet for personal enrichment and to share the experiences with various traveling companions. She traveled to Peru, Italy, Germany, China, Easter Island, Russia and Uzbekistan when they were in the Soviet Union, and her final trip abroad was to “down under”, New Zealand and Australia.

Alma Marie Murphy’s immediate family consider her relatively peaceful final illness and death to be a blessing for her, and a tribute to the caring and skill of the personnel at The Kahl Home and at Genesis Hospice Services. The family asks that should anyone wish to make memorial donation in honor of Alma to please do so by donating to The Kahl Home, 6701 Jersey Ridge Road, Davenport, IA 52807.

No public memorial services will be held and Alma’s interment will be a private family affair. Nevertheless, a memorial “party” may be held in Alma’s honor–as she suggested–sometime after the hectic holiday season is over.

Words cannot adequately express the feelings of love and friendship that Alma gave to so many persons in her life, and which so many of us returned to her. Our hearts go with you, Alma, in your final journey.

Online condolences may be left at www.rungemortuary.com.