Martin Leo Murphy

Martin Leo Murphy, age 84, passed away peacefully in his home, in San Pedro, California, on Friday, June 21, 2024, with his wife, Diana, by his side. 

Martin was born in Decatur, Illinois on August 15, 1939 to Leo Frances and Dorothy Jane Murphy. He was the oldest of four children. His sister, Mary Ann, passed away earlier this year. Marty is survived by his brother, Michael Murphy and his wife, Linda, and his sister, Janet Walters and her husband, John. He is also survived by his cousin, Stan Boland and his wife, Sandy.

After attending Milikin University, transferring to the University of Illinois, and graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering, Marty moved to California where he met his beautiful wife of 59 years, Diana Murphy. They were set up by friends and met on a blind date. Together, they traveled with family and friends - camping in National Parks, cruising to Mexico and Alaska, flying to Hawaii, Ireland (2x), Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, taking a train trip to Illinois, and having great times on Model A and Corvette Club car trips.

Martin was very successful in his career and was an excellent provider for his family. He worked for the County of Los Angeles as a Civil Engineer for 36 years and earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University of Los Angeles. During his time working with the county, he made great friends like Guy Newman. Guy and his wife, Leiani, Marty, and Diana enjoyed a decades long friendship filled with lots of fishing, travel, theater, food, and fun.

Marty also had many hobbies and interests. He spent years learning about and growing Bonsai trees. After retirement, he took up woodworking, even taking courses at Cerritos Community College so that he could use their equipment and learn advanced techniques to design and build beautiful cabinets for his home in San Pedro. He also spent hours upon hours at a time in front of his computer. He became an expert with PhotoShop and would organize photos, create CD covers, recipe books, and pages for his stamp collection.

Of all the things that Marty enjoyed, what he loved most was spending time with his family. Marty and Diana have 2 daughters, Denise Leonard and Michelle O’Brien. As they grew up, Marty was always right there ready to dance when he came home from work, coach softball, participate in Indian Princesses, and record the big family moments with his massive video recorder.

Marty went by a lot of different names: Martin, Marty, Murph, MLM, Murphsbury, Dad, and Uncle, to name a few. The name he loved the most though was definitely Papa! He was blessed to have 3 wonderful grandchildren: Nicole (Nikki) Lawrence, Justin O’Brien, and Robert (Robby) Leonard. He loved spending time with them and hearing them call out, “Papa!” 

In 2018, Marty had his 3rd stroke. He survived each one without any specific loss of function, but the damage from the strokes did lead to vascular dementia, which he suffered from more and more during the last 6 years of his life. Diana did an incredible job caring for him completely on her own during COVID and continued to be his primary caregiver and number one advocate until the very end. Over the past several years, Marty and Diana have been blessed to also have had many VERY special people who have come into their home, and their lives, to care for Marty as his disease progressed. Marty’s caregivers became part of the family and lovingly called him Papa too. 

Music is something that brought great joy to Marty all throughout his life. He loved to dance and to sing and even had fun shaking maracas from his recliner. It brought him great comfort and was a wonderful way for him to share his faith too. Marty loved Jesus and he had a very special devotion to the Virgin Mary. We pray that he is now reunited with his parents, Leo and Dorothy, his sister, Mary Ann, his grandson, Robby, and his beloved dog, Lady, enjoying the most incredibly beautiful music with all the angels and saints! 

Until we meet again, may you rest in peace, Papa!