COMMUNITY FIGURE IS RETIRED - FOR NOW.Byline: Bettie Rencoret Senior columnist Jack Murphy The name Jack Murphy can refer to:
He went on to become a city councilman and mayor, and now helps his wife operate two board and care homes for the mentally disabled mentally disabled See Cognitively impaired. in Quartz Hill, which she opened before they were married in 1994. Before coming to Lancaster, Murphy wrote comedy for television shows, did warm-ups for Gogi Grant Gogi Grant (born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg, September 20, 1924) is an American popular singer. Life and career She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of twelve she moved to Los Angeles, California. and Dennis Day Dennis Day (May 21, 1916, New York City – June 22, 1988, Los Angeles, California),[1] [2] [3] born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio and television personality. and did stand-up comedy  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. for trade clubs and conventions. He has retired from business and political ventures four times, but is still going strong. Murphy, a longtime advocate for Lancaster cityhood, was a shoo-in for a council seat when citizens voted to incorporate. No longer involved in politics, he keeps a fairly low profile now, but his presence is still felt in the community. Murphy and his wife, the former Grace Luciano, operate two board and care homes. Grace opened the first one, St. Francis of Assisi, in 1991 and the second, St. Francis of Assisi II, in 1993. They flourished under her compassionate direction long before she and Jack Murphy joined forces. He claims his contribution to running the board and care homes is minor, that Grace has a more-than-adequate, competent staff. ``Once in a while they give me a call and ask, what'll we do about this or that, but I'm not involved in an eight-hour day eight-hour day: see labor law. or a five-day week five-day week n → semana inglesa five-day week n → semaine f de cinq jours five-day week five n → ,'' he said. He and Grace were married Dec. 3, 1994, in the expansive Quartz Hill house they call home. Always sensitive to the special needs of others, they sometimes open up their home to care for Alzheimer's patients. ``When we're needed, we do that,'' he said. ``But it's on a short-term basis.'' The needs of the board and care homes, which are nearby, are manifest in the number of times Grace is called to go over to handle something that can't wait. She goes with good humor Noun 1. good humor - a cheerful and agreeable mood amiability, good humour, good temper humour, mood, temper, humor - a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; "whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time"; and comes back that way. Murphy and his twin sister, the late Pat Spehn, were born and raised in Chicago by his policeman father, Frank, and show business mother, Mabel Murphy. Mabel was an understudy for the legendary Sophie Tucker, billed as The Last of the Red Hot Mamas. ``She also sang Irish ballads and told clean jokes,'' he said. From 1944 to 1946 he served in the United States Marine Corps United States Marine Corps (USMC) Separate military service within the U.S. Department of the Navy (see U.S. Navy), charged with providing marine troops for seizure and defense of advanced bases and with conducting operations on land and in the air in connection with , seeing action in the South Pacific. From 1952 to 1953 he was in the United States Air Force United States Air Force (USAF) Major component of the U.S. military organization, with primary responsibility for air warfare, air defense, and military space research. It also provides air services in coordination with the other military branches. U.S. with duty in England and stateside state·side adj. 1. Of or in the continental United States. 2. Alaska Of or in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. adv. Informal 1. , ending up as a staff sergeant. Reminiscing about his early days in Lancaster, Murphy explained how he began officiating at many of the local events. He said he was involved in the Lions Club in the days when it sponsored the honorary mayor contest, the biggest community event of the year. The chairman of the contest was always supposed to be the master of ceremonies, he said, but the first year he was involved, he was commandeered to do it. On the day before the big banquet, the chairman announced he was deathly death·ly adj. 1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of death: a deathly silence. 2. Causing death; fatal. adv. 1. In the manner of death. 2. afraid of microphones and would not be master of ceremonies. ``So they said to me, hey, you've got a pretty good gift of gab gift of gab n. The ability to talk readily, glibly, and convincingly. . Why don't you try it?'' Murphy said. He took the challenge that day, went home and worked up a script. ``In a deal like that, and in Antelope Valley,'' he said, ``you've gotta make it personal. You can't talk about the pope or the president. You've gotta make it about Larry Morse (former Antelope Municipal Court judge) or Jim Jackson (Joshua Memorial Park owner), or people like that.'' He wrote up about 30 minutes of material, he said, and the next night did his thing. The first story he told had to do with his young son. He told the audience that he owned Murphy's Mortuary and he was sure he appeared to be very nervous. ``Not because of this,'' he said, ``but I have a son who has been getting ready to say his first word, and my wife and I have been taking turns over and over trying to get him to say mama, mama. That's all we ever said to him for an hour at a time. Well, today he said his first word. He said Mu-maw!'' the name of another Lancaster mortuary. People liked that, he said. Invitations poured in, and the more he did it, the more he was in demand. It was fantastic advertising and business at Murphy's Mortuary thrived under such exposure. ``I did stuff for Lt. Gov. Ed Reineke, for Barry Goldwater, Sen. George Murphy, all name figures,'' he said. ``I was getting publicity like you wouldn't believe, and that's what made me successful.'' When Murphy sold his mortuary in 1981, he had a sad awakening. He was involved in politics, still had an interest in the mortuary and was on the board at the Antelope Valley Bank, so he had three offices to go to. ``I found out I wasn't really welcome at any one of them,'' he said. ``They didn't need me. If they'd needed me, it'd be different, but they didn't. All of a sudden I was a fifth wheel.'' So he went into the microfilm business with a partner. ``Everything was going great with that until my partner, who was the expert on microfilm, had a heart attack,'' he said. ``When he had the heart attack I lost his expertise, so I sold that business and went into another.'' This time he tried a shredding business, and that did well, too, he said. He had contracts with NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , Rockwell, Lockheed and the FAA. Then it got to the point where it was necessary to expand. ``By that time I was 68 or 69 years old, and I didn't want to invest another $60,000 in any 20-year commitments,'' he said, ``so I just decided to close the doors.'' His routine in his current retirement is satisfying, he said. Every morning he meets several business cronies and his son, Bil, for breakfast at a local downtown restaurant, where they eat and play a numbers game. Regulars in the breakfast gang include Roger Hemme, Art Ekizian, Roland Duhart, former Mayor Arnie Rodio, Perry Poulos and Dante Simi. Most of them are members of the Lancaster Elks Lodge, where Murphy is a 30-year member and past exalted ruler. He said breakfast with them starts his day, and the rest of it is comparatively laid back. His five years with Grace, his second wife, have been good, he said, because she is fun to be with and they like to do the same things. ``I've had a good life, I really have,'' he said. ``I've had a lot of satisfaction out of everything I've ever done.'' Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for a suggested donation of $2. Monday: Beef macaroni macaroni: see pasta. , Normandy vegetables, carrot and raisin salad, grape juice, apple. Tuesday: Hearty beef stew, cornbread, green beans, coleslaw cole·slaw also cole slaw n. A salad of finely shredded raw cabbage and sometimes shredded carrots, dressed with mayonnaise or a vinaigrette. , tapioca pudding. Wednesday: Barbecued pork, parsleyed potatoes, peas and carrots, tossed salad, orange juice, pineapple chunks. Thursday: Oven-fried chicken, scalloped scal·lop also scol·lop or es·cal·lop n. 1. a. Any of various free-swimming marine mollusks of the family Pectinidae, having fan-shaped bivalve shells with a radiating fluted pattern. b. potatoes, spinach, citrus salad, chocolate cake. Friday: Baked fish fillet fillet /fil·let/ (fil´et) 1. a loop, as of cord or tape, for making traction on the fetus. 2. in the nervous system, a long band of nerve fibers. fil·let n. 1. , baked potato, corn Niblets, garden salad, Jell-O with fruit cocktail. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Jack Murphy, former owner of Murphy's Mortuary, is shown with his wife of four years, Grace Murphy. The couple live in Quartz Hill. Bettie Rencoret/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion