Murphy, James William 1939 - 2024

MURPHY, LILLIE, SPRAIN, RINN, POSHUSTA, DAVIS

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 4/19/2024 at 16:33:32

U S. Veteran
James William Murphy, age 84, of Calmar passed away April 17th at WinnMed Center in Decorah while holding hands with Althea, his loving wife of 59 years.

Graveside service will be held at 11:53 a.m. on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at St. Aloysius Catholic Cemetery in Calmar, IA.

James was born November 24, 1939, in Freeport, Illinois. He joined the Navy upon graduating from Freeport High School in 1957. He was honorably discharged in 1960 as Storekeeper First Class, SK1

After graduating from Elgin Beauty School James became owner of Command Performance Beauty Salon in Lake Zurich, Illinois. He and Althea who was teaching in Libertyville met in the play “Mousetrap” where they played roles as husband and wife. They both found employment in Palatine, IL. They married June 26, 1965

As the family grew, they decided to leave a suburb of Chicago to raise their family in a smaller community. As an employee of the City of Calmar from 1979 – 1996, James operated the water and waste plant. He took pride in making sure the city of Calmar was prestine.

From 2002 – 2008 he was the custodian of CFS (Calmar) where he could be found fixing a pipe while listening to Frank Sinatra, Cynthia Clawson, Dino, and ABBA.

James is survived by his wife, Althea; son, Jay (Tracie)Kansas City, MO; daughters, Monique (Darin) Lillie Toddville, IA; Danielle (Tim) Sprain Lacrosse, WI; Angelique (Kyle) Rinn Rochester, MN; sons, Maxmillian Adams, WI and Manian (Lexi) Spillville, IA; grandchildren, Paige, Parker, Preston, Autumn Murphy, Dalton and Mitchell (Lucy) Lillie, Abie, Liberty, Adelade Sprain, Kyler Rinn, Ian Murphy, Tayves, Zdayno and Duncan Murphy; great-grandchild Theadora Lillie.

Teaching the game of chess, to his children and grandchildren, playing evening horseshoes at home or family events, and bowling were his favorite past times.

James has one surviving brother, Les (Karen) from the Villages in Florida, and in-laws, Robert Davis, Randall and Lois Poshusta, and Steve and Nancy Poshusta.

James was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and June, and his two brothers, Herb and Chuck; his in-laws Wilmer and Mildred Poshusta, brother-in-law Michael Poshusta and sister-in-laws Pat Murphy, Dorothy Poshusta and Sally Davis.

Source: Helms Funeral Home database

St. Aloysius Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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