[nfbwatlk] Fw: Great Story!

Tue Jun 5 03:11:31 CDT 2007

Hi,
Too bad she thinks she could no longer crochet after losing her sight.
Thanks
Lauren
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 9:13 PM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: Great Story!

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Sue Ammeter
> To: wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 1:46 PM
> Subject: [Wcb-l] Great Story!
>
>
>    Here is an article that appeared in yesterday's Daily Olympian about
> Daisy Murphy.  Daisy is a former Patron Advisory Council member and she
> attended our library rally on April 4th.  What a lady!
>
>
> Published June 03, 2007
>
>  Woman turns 108 with a smile
>
> Venice Buhain
>
> LACEY - Daisy Murphy's life has spanned from the horse-and-buggy age to
> the computer age.
>
> On Sunday, she celebrated her 108th birthday at Lacey Chapel church,
> where she attends every week. She had another birthday party at Colonial
> Inn, an assisted-living facility where she lives.
>
> "I have a lot of friends. I've lived here awhile," she said.
>
> *Still active*
>
> A lifelong avid reader, Murphy, who has lost her eyesight, was at a
> rally earlier this year in support of funding for the Washington Talking
> Book and Braille Library in Seattle. She sat at the top of the Capitol
> steps holding a sign that said "107 and Still Reading."
>
> "I have used the talking books for so many years, and they were using me
> to get a little attention. We need those books, I think," she said. "I
> would gladly help if I could. But there's not much I can do anymore."
>
> "I'm amazed at her strength," said her son, Don Murphy, 73. "She has a
> great character and a great mental attitude."
>
> *Beginnings*
>
> On June 3, 1899, Murphy was born to Alice and I.G. Wikstrom, a native
> Swede who moved to the United States when he was 19. I.G. Wikstrom, who
> became a U.S. citizen and was patriotic to his new country, owned a
> lumbermill in Scappoose, Ore., and was a well-respected man who owned
> the first car in Columbia County, Ore. "He built the sidewalk to the
> high school, so we wouldn't have to pass the liquor stores," Daisy
> Murphy said.
>
> The Wikstroms had 10 children. I.G. Wikstrom lived to be 105.
>
> She became a teacher at age 19, earning her degree and certificate at
> Oregon Normal School in Monmouth. She met a fellow educator, Archie
> Murphy, and the pair married on Christmas Day 1926.
>
> The family, which included Don and two older daughters, Dea and Lynn,
> moved to Olympia just before World War II, when Archie Murphy served in
> the U.S. military in Europe.
>
> After the war, Archie Murphy became the director of education at McChord
> Air Force Base and was a civilian educator for the military until he
> retired in the 1960s.
>
> "For a while, Dad had her teaching out there at Fort Lewis," Don Murphy
> said. Her job was to tutor soldiers who couldn't read very well.
>
> "The war was over, and the place was flooded with boys who left school
> to go to the army," Daisy Murphy said. "And my husband handled hundreds
> of boys, trying to get them into college."
>
> For a time, the family lived on Conger Street in Olympia. Their family
> home eventually was sold to the Olympia School District to build
> Jefferson Middle School, Don Murphy said.
>
> After Archie Murphy's retirement, the couple lived in Washington Land
> Yacht Harbor, a mobile home park for people who owned Airstream
> recreational vehicles. The couple traveled to Europe and toured the
> country in their Airstream. Archie Murphy died about 20 years ago.
>
> She continued to live on her own until age 102, when she moved to
> Colonial Inn. Before her eyesight faded, she crocheted hundreds of
> blankets for the Lacey Chapel to send on missionary trips.
>
> Karolyn Earnshaw, who was her neighbor in her previous home, remarked on
> her positive attitude.
>
> "She was always such an inspiration to everyone," she said. "She has
> never complained about any pain, and I was amazed by that."
>
> Though she no longer can read books or newspapers, she subscribes to two
> newspapers and listens avidly to talk and news radio, her caregiver,
> Kate Sandoval, said.
>
> "She knows all the issues and she's voted in every election her whole
> life," Sandoval said.
>
> Daisy Murphy enjoys having biographies and history books read to her or
> listening to them on tape.
>
> "Everybody should learn American history. But history to me is a little
> earlier than with most people," Murphy said.
>
> Don Murphy said he still learns from his mother.
>
> "It's just her wisdom. The experiences she's had in life, from people in
> horses and buggies and her father had one of the first automobiles in
> that county," Don Murphy said. "She doesn't get focused and get down in
> minutiae. You know how some people can get depressed over that, and she
> doesn't let that happen. She's got a great sense of humor, too."
>
> Daisy Murphy said people sometimes ask about her secret to a long life.
>
> "I have fun with all of them, but I'm not giving advice," she said.
>
> Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at
> 360-754-5445 or
> vbuhain at theolympian.com.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wcb-l mailing list
> Wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
> http://wcbinfo.org/mailman/listinfo/wcb-l_wcbinfo.org
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.9/832 - Release Date: 6/4/2007 6:43 
PM