ROSCOE E. “ROCK” MURPHY, age 95 years, a former resident of Elkins, WV and more recently a resident of Ocala, FL was called to be with our Lord, Tuesday afternoon, August 9, 2011 at the Hospice of Marion County Legacy House at Ocala, FL.
He was born Sunday, January 16, 1916 at Montrose, WV a son of the late Edward and Effie Yeager Murphy. On October 3, 1937 at Oakland, MD he was married to the former Josephine L. “Jo” Phares, and they relocated to Elkins in 1940. Jo preceded him in death February 26, 2009. They had celebrated seventy-two years of marriage. Surviving are one son, Bill Lee Murphy and wife Jan, Navarre, FL; one sister, Rita Gates, Akron, OH; one grandson, Brock Grady Murphy, Birmingham, AL; and several very special nieces and nephews.
Preceding him in death are four brothers, Walter C., Russell D., William C. and infant Raymond Murphy and four sisters, Lecia Gainer; Thelma Hanger and twins Icie Sturm and Ivie Funnelman.
He was a graduate of Parsons High School with the Class of 1933 and from Davis & Elkins College, where he received his Standard Normal Certificate. He was a veteran of World War II, serving with the U. S. Army, and after his 1945 return to his wife and son in Elkins, he established an insurance business. He had previously taught school for six years, in the one room schools of Randolph County, including Pheasant Run at Kerens, Conrad at Huttonsville and Gainer at Montrose. He later worked four years for Montgomery Ward, the Goodyear Aircraft Company at Akron, OH and last as an insurance agent for Peoples Life Insurance Company and then Nationwide Insurance Company from which he retired after forty-one successful years. He and his wife retired to Ocala, Florida in 1987.
He was a member of the H. W. Daniel’s Post # 29, American Legion; the Tygart’s Valley Post # 3647, Veterans of Foreign Wars; was a former member of the Elkins Lions Club, where he was a past president; was a past Assistant Director for the Mt. State Forest Festival for several years and was a former member of the Elkins Lodge # 1135, B.P.O.E. He was a former member of the First Baptist Church of Elkins and more recently the First Baptist Church at Ocala, FL.
A special and loving thank you to Sharon Murphy Mahan and Gary Murphy and wife Peggy, all of Ocala, devoted and much loved niece and nephew, who helped care for Mr. Murphy during the last several years; as well as Betty Gall, the Emeritus assisted living staff, Avante skilled nursing staff and Hospice of Marion County, in Florida
The family will receive friends at the Lohr & Barb Funeral Home of Elkins on Sunday, August 14, 2011 from 1 to 2 PM, the funeral hour. The Rev. Dr. Marvin L. Parli will officiate and entombment will follow at the Mountain State Memorial Gardens Mausoleum at Gilman, WV, where the H. W. Daniel’s Post # 29, American Legion will present the American Flag.
