October 3, 1928- August 2, 2021
Olive was born in Waltham, MA to Maude and Albert Brooks. She grew up in Lincoln and attended Concord High School where she excelled in athletics and academics. She attended Boston University as an English major, supporting herself and working full-time while attending college. During her professional career she worked as a stock market statistician in the Boston financial community and as an office manager for several 128 tech firms. She thoroughly enjoyed working with clients and colleagues.
In 1950 she married Benson B. Murphy and they had two sons, Darrell Murphy and Benson Murphy Jr. They lived in Sudbury, MA, Piscataway, NJ, Vina Del Mar, Chile and settling in Sudbury MA to raise their family.
Olive was the consummate hostess and organized and hosted many dinners and parties including family gatherings, entertaining diplomats and high school reunions. She was very active throughout the years in the League of Women Voters and the Sudbury Garden Club. She was a proud member of the Memorial Congregational Church of Sudbury and attended services every week until her health prevented her from attending during the last few years.
For many, many years Olive enjoyed spending two weeks every summer at Sandy Island on her beloved Lake Winnipesaukee. Swimming, tennis and socializing were favorites while camping on Sandy.
In 1979, she married John T. Harvell and they enjoyed almost 25 years of marriage until his passing in 2003. They travelled the world together and he shared her love of Sandy Island and the lake. They enjoyed ballroom dancing and were usually the first on the dance floor. Ollie and Jack were a great team who deeply valued education and music. Olive was a longtime supporter of the Boston Pops. Her annual Holiday Pops concert gathering was an event enjoyed by many over the years.
In 2012, Olive moved from Sudbury to Sunrise of Wayland in Wayland, MA and has resided there since that time.
Olive leaves behind her two sons; Darrell Lunn Murphy and his wife Kimberly Callahan Murphy; Benson Bruce Murphy Jr. and his wife Carol Caissie Murphy. She also leaves her granddaughters Emily Ruth Murphy and Grace Elizabeth Murphy as well as her step grandchildren Victor Mansfield and Laura Curtis (husband John). She leaves behind her siblings, Albert “Bud” Brooks and his wife Arlene, Richard Brooks, Caroline Spanger and Charles Brooks and his wife Jeannine. She also leaves many nieces and nephews, stepchildren, step grandchildren and step great grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her daughter in law Kathleen Mansfield Murphy, her sister-in-law Agnes Brooks and her brother-in-law Alfredo Spanger.
Visitation and Funeral Services at Duckett Funeral Home of J.S. Waterman and Sons, 656 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA on Saturday, August 7, 2021. Visitation 9:00 am – 10:00 am. Funeral at 10:00 am. Burial immediately following at Mt Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA.
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