Mary Eileen (Hittenmiller) Murphy 1925-2005

HITTENMILLER, MURPHY, BERNDSEN, SCHEETS, UNERTL, FERGUSON, LUFT, SIA, MCWHERTER, DOMINGUS, WOGEN, KELLER

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 5/30/2016 at 11:27:45

Mary Eileen (Hittenmiller) Murphy, 80, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, formerly of 60 Nevada St., Dubuque, was called Home to be with the Lord on Friday, Oct. 7, 2005, at Silver Pines Nursing Home, Cedar Rapids, due to Alzheimer's disease.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Nativity Catholic Church, Dubuque, with the Rev. Dwayne Thoman officiating. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Key west, Iowa. Friends may call from 3 to 8 Monday at Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Road, Dubuque, where there will be a parish wake service at 7:30 p.m.

She was born on June 12, 1925, in Dyersville, Iowa, to the late Albert and Marie (Berndsen) Hittenmiller.

She married her sweetheart, John F. Murphy, Jr., former Dubuque County Sheriff, on May 7, 1949; he preceded her in death on Sept. 15, 1991.

She graduated from Xavier High School, Dyersville, in 1942. In 1946, she graduated from St. Mary's School of Nursing, Rochester, Minn., as an Army cadet nurse.

Mrs. Murphy then worked at St. Mary's for several months as the head nurse of the Neurology-Surgical unit. In January 1947, she began work as an operating room nurse at Mercy Hospital, Dubuque. She continued her nursing career at Mercy in several areas as a dedicated staff nurse.

Subsequently she advanced to the position of registered nurse instructor where Mary's love of nursing inspired her students to excel in their nursing career. Due to Mary's passion and zeal for the advancement of nursing education, she was bestowed the honor of being named the first manager of education at Mercy Medical Center.

Among Mary's many accomplishments as education manager, she was a pioneer in designing and teaching courses for mental health aides, nurse's aides and developing courses for the orientation of desk clerks.

After more than 30 years at Mercy Medical Center, Mary chose to retire from the career she loved. She then volunteered in several departments at Mercy Medical Center including education, surgical waiting room, pre-admission testing and the Health Science Library.

The family asks all to remember mom, grandma, and great-grandmother for her happy smile, open heart, acceptance of others and the "twinkle" in her green eyes. Mary Eileen requests "Don't think of me as gone, as I'm only just a prayer away".

Surviving are five children, daughter, Patti Scheets, and her son, Phillip, of Bloomington, Ill.; son, John F. Murphy III, and his wife, Debbie, and their children, Samantha and John F. , BRAUN,Murphy IV, of Coralville; daughter, Sue (fiance, Mike Unertl) Braun, of Mount Vernon, and Sue's two daughters, Lisa Ferguson along with her two children, Dustin and Delaney, and Lori (Scott) Luft, of Julesburg, Colo., Mike's four daughters, Kim (Andrew) Sia, of Santa Barbara, Calif., Carrie (Todd) McWherter, of Viola, Sarah (Jeff) Domingus, of Dayton, Ohio, and Molly Unertl, of Springville; daughter, Kathy Wogen, and her husband, John, of Houston, Texas, and their children, Lars (Emi), of Houston, Torrey, of Chicago, and Katie, from Huntsville, Texas; son, Tom Murphy, and his wife, Dayna, of Hebron, Ind.; She was also survived by her brother, Myron (Flick) Hittenmiller, and his wife, Betty, of Dyersville; sisters-in-law, Grace Hittenmiller, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Dorothy Hittenmiller, of Delhi, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews.

She also was preceded in death by two brothers, Albert "Bob" and Jimmy Hittenmiller; and sisters-in-law, Irene Keller, Florence and Mary Murphy.

In lieu of flowers, Mary requested memorials be sent, in her name, to Mercy Health Center, 250 Mercy Drive, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 and The Alzheimer's Association 225 N. Michigan Ave, 17th floor, Chicago, Ill. 60601-7633.

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Sunday, October 9, 2005