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The Ponca City News
Ponca City, OK
Monday, August 23, 1999 

Ermal A. Murphy, 116 Whitworth Avenue, died Saturday, Aug. 21, 1999 at Westminster Village. She was 87. 

The funeral service will be Tuesday, 10 am at the First Christian Church with the Rev. Kent Dorsey, pastor, officiating, assisted by the Rev. Charles Heyer, associate pastor. Burial will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of the Trout Funeral Home. 

Born Aug 21, 1912 at Oilton, she was the daughter of Thomas and Beulah Nance Green. She earned her B.S. degree at Central State University and had done graduate work at Oklahoma State University. 

Before coming to Ponca City in 1943, Mrs. Murphy taught school in Webb City and Quay. She taught first and third grade at Lincoln and Roosevelt prior to becoming the second grade teacher at Garfield. Ermal retired in 1975 after 39 years of teaching. 

On June 27, 1945, she married James Harold “Jim” Murphy at Cleveland, Okla. Together the couple were active members of the First Christian Church. Mrs. Murphy also taught Sunday School for a number of years, served as a deacon, and wrote the history of the Ponca City church from its beginnings in 1893. 

In 1972 she was listed in the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America and that same year was named Ponca City Teacher of the Year. She was a member of the national, state, and local education associations, charter member of the Association of Classroom Teachers, the Oklahoma and Cimarron Reading Councils, Garfield P.T.A., past president and secretary-treasurer of Kappa Kappa Iota and past recording secretary of Delta Kappa Gamma. 

She is survived by her son Kevin and his wife Ann of Ponca City; three grandsons, Bryan, Tad, and Jace Murphy, all of Ponca City; three brothers, Edgar Green of Russell, Kan., Buel Green of Bartlesville, and Gordon Green of Fort Worth, Texas. In addition to her husband Jim, who died March 23, 1997, she was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Frank Green. 

Casket bearers will be Bryan Murphy, Tad Murphy, Jace Murphy, Jim Stieber, Creyton Riseling, and Stan Reiss. Honorary casket bearers will be members of the Friendly Class of First Christian Church. 

Memorials may be made to First Christian Church, 210 North Fifth Street, Ponca City, OK 74601. 

The family will be at 2405 Meadowbrook. 

Source: The Ponca City News [Dec 2001]