Thailand RPCV Dennis J. Murphy Jr., dies in Providence
Dennis J. Murphy Jr., 70; former director of DEM
Nov 26, 2003 - Providence Journal Bulletin
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MIDDLETOWN - Dennis J. Murphy Jr., 70, of Phayao, Thailand, a former state director of Natural Resources, a past president of the Middletown Town Council, a retired teacher, and a former farmer, died Nov. 11 at home in Thailand.
Appointed to direct the state Department of Environmental Management, then the Department of Natural Resources, in 1973, he oversaw what was a particularly busy period for the department.
Under his leadership, the DEM established Fort Adams State Park, Brenton Point State Park, Snake Den Park, and Patriots Park, which honors the 1st Rhode Island black regiment. It made improvements to the Narragansett Town Beach, the Galilee Pier, and Burlingame State Park, and to the state division of Fish and Hatcheries. And, together with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, it launched the program that provides public transportation to state beaches during the summer months.
A fourth-generation Democrat, Mr. Murphy was a member of the Middletown Democratic Town Committee.
Over the years, he also had served on many boards and associations relating to agriculture, coastal preservation, land preservation, education, and mental retardation.
Elected to the Middletown Town Council in 1969, he served until 1973. He was the council's vice president for his first two years in office, and its president for his final two-year term.
As a leader on the Town Council, he advocated improvements in municipal services and the expansion of town recreational programs, including those for the handicapped and mentally challenged. And, in 1972, he initiated the process that resulted in the Navy's transferring the Sachuest Point property to the town, when the property was decommissioned.
A former teacher, Mr. Murphy began teaching at De La Salle Academy in 1957, and later taught at the former Warren High School.
He was a 1951 graduate of the former De La Salle Academy, in Newport, earning a full four-year scholarship to Cornell University, in New York, from which he graduated in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in agriculture.
An Army veteran, he had served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1955, achieving the rank of first lieutenant.
Mr. Murphy was the husband of Nye Murphy of Thailand, and the former husband of Katherine "Bonnie" Murphy of Middletown.
Born in Newport on Aug. 7, 1933, a son of Dennis J. and Brace (Quinn) Murphy, he was raised on Ogden Farm. In 1957, he moved to back Middletown, where he operated the family-owned dairy farm, and in the summer, ran a roadside farm stand still recalled for selling "Murphy's Sweet Corn."
In 1987, Mr. Murphy joined the Peace Corps, which sent him to Thailand, where he resumed his farming career until he retired in 2001.
Besides his wife and his former wife, he leaves four daughters, Elizabeth Murphy Ward of Newport; Laura Murphy Keener of Squantum, Mass., Magen Murphy Sigel of Medina, Ohio, and Jane "Holly" Murphy Garvey of Middletown; a son, Patrick D. Murphy of South Boston; two sisters, Grace A. Thomas of Hyannis, Mass., and Frances A. Peterson of Newport; 10 grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was the father of the late Nora, Margaret, Katherine, Nancy and Dennis Murphy.
A memorial service will be held in the spring.
