James F. Murphy

James F. Murphy passed away on the 27th of November 2021. He was the oldest son of 6 living children born to James F. Murphy and Catherine T. (Bingaman) Murphy. He was born on the 31st of July 1934 in Melrose Iowa. His father was a barber, and his mom was a homemaker and a housekeeper. In 1941 the family came to Knoxville with his father starting a job at the Knoxville VA Hospital.
James played football in high school and graduated from Knoxville High School in 1952.
He worked at Maytag and then he and his friends decided to join the military.
James joined the Air force in January 1954 and served in Korea and Japan and returned home in October 1957. He attended the University of Iowa and got his degree in accounting. James worked in Des Moines for several years in a state accounting job
He moved to Milwaukee, living, and working at the Zablocki VA Medical Center as an internal mail carrier until his retirement. This VA Medical Center is a 189-bed tertiary hospital with a Spinal Cord injury Center, Domiciliary Care, Greenhouse Community Living Nursing Home, and serves 64,000 veterans annually. He stayed in Milwaukee and lived in the assisted living facility there until his death.
James had no children, but he inspired his nieces and nephews with his Air Force service and his love of learning. He loved jokes and collected and spread them as much as he could with the family sending him new ones and sharing them. He loved the outdoors, nature and teaching new things.
James was preceded in death by his parents James F and Catherine Murphy, sister Mary M. Eddleman, brothers Donald and Michael Murphy, and sister-in-law JoAnn Murphy. He is survived by sister Lois A. Rankin (Clair) of Knoxville and brother Gene Murphy of Las Cruses NM along with many nieces and nephews.
Visitation for James will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2022, from 9:00 Am. To 10:00 A.M. at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Knoxville. A memorial service will begin at 10:00 A.M. Burial will follow at Weller Cemetery in Monroe County, Iowa.