Bill Murphy was one of the most fascinating people I've ever met. At one time, he was enormously wealthy, lived on Park Avenue in NYC and hobnobbed with the very rich and famous; he had anecdotes about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor ("He behaved like a whipped puppy around her"), Lady Diana Cooper ("She always looked fabulous"), Jimmy Donahue ("He had priceless antiques and he put Woolworth stickers on the bottom of all of them"), Pius XII and many others. He somehow lost his fortune and spent his last years doing volunteer work with people with AIDS in Albany, NY. Diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer, he spent his final days in the service of others. Despite his illness his sense of humor never left him. "You know'" he once told me, "my doctor gave me six months to live...and that was a year ago. Good thing I didn't believe him!" Bill died at the age of 79 and his ashes are interred in the burial plot at Grace & Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, alongside of the ashes of persons who benefitted from his volunteer efforts.
Bill Murphy was one of the most fascinating people I've ever met. At one time, he was enormously wealthy, lived on Park Avenue in NYC and hobnobbed with the very rich and famous; he had anecdotes about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor ("He behaved like a whipped puppy around her"), Lady Diana Cooper ("She always looked fabulous"), Jimmy Donahue ("He had priceless antiques and he put Woolworth stickers on the bottom of all of them"), Pius XII and many others. He somehow lost his fortune and spent his last years doing volunteer work with people with AIDS in Albany, NY. Diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer, he spent his final days in the service of others. Despite his illness his sense of humor never left him. "You know'" he once told me, "my doctor gave me six months to live...and that was a year ago. Good thing I didn't believe him!" Bill died at the age of 79 and his ashes are interred in the burial plot at Grace & Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, alongside of the ashes of persons who benefitted from his volunteer efforts.
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