At 4:30 AM on the morning of March 2, in the year of our Lord 2022, our mother slipped safely into the arms of Jesus. Born Imogene Opal Williams on November 17, 1935, just west of Success, MO to Martin and Opal Williams as the youngest of four sisters. Ruth, Geraldine, and Zella preceded her in death. She was married to Vernon Earl Murphy in 1952 in McKittrick, California and to this union three children were born: Vernon “Butch”, Mike, and Theresa. Her daughter preceded her in her transition in 1964.
During the course of her life, she was active in the healthcare field working at Texas County Memorial Hospital where she worked in OB, the emergency room and physical therapy, finishing her healthcare endeavor at the office of Joe Abel Wall, MD. After her retirement, she attended cosmetology school and applied her skills in Houston, MO where she and her husband had lived since 1962.
After retirement in 1989, Vernon and Jean became winter visitors to Florida where they enjoyed golf and walking and after her husband’s death in 1991, she moved to Florida where she lived at Sunny Pines Mobile Park and later moving to Crystal Lake in Avon Park. Her last days were spent at the Palms of Sebring Assisted Living Facility where she and her friend George Thompson enjoyed each other’s company.
Jean is survived by her sons, Vernon Murphy, Jr, a practicing physician in Sebring, FL for 35 years, and Mike Murphy, a retired Registered Nurse in Salem, MO; four grandchildren, Teresa Sapaugh, Zechariah Murphy, Aaron Murphy, and Rachel Lovett; and seven great-grandchildren.
