Elizabeth A. Murphy

Elizabeth Ann Murphy was born on 04/07/1947 in Brockton Massachusetts, daughter of the late Catherine (Lyons) and Arthur R. Murphy (Massachusetts) brother to the late Lawrence D Murphy and sister in law the late Judith A. Costa. She passed away on the morning of 11/26/2018 at her home in Strongsville Ohio after a battle with cancer. She is survived by nephew, Kevin Murphy, his wife Jane (Ohio) and grandnieces Elizabeth, her wife Karla (California) and Brianna (Ohio), nephew Michael Murphy (Massachusetts) and niece Susan Swartz, her husband Martin and grandnephews Daniel and Zachery (Massachusetts), many cousins and longtime friend Roger Clifford. Elizabeth was known to her family as Aunty Betty but to her many friends as Liz or Lizzy.

Aunty Betty grew up in Brocton Massachusetts, attended Cardinal Spellman High School but was a graduate of Brockton High School, class of 1965. She then went onto the Franklin Institute to study Architecture, following in her father’s footsteps. Upon graduating at the top of her class, she took a job in Bermuda. After staying several years in Bermuda, she came back to Massachusetts and continued her career as an architect. Ultimately retiring in 2013 from the DXL company.

Aunty Betty was an avid shopper, she loved a sale and could not stay away. So much so that she was almost late for Kevin’s wedding because she had been taking advantage of a sale at the local mall, much to the concern of her mother Catherine, who by the way also an avid sale shopper. She eventually made it to the wedding on time.

Aunty Betty loved to cook. She was a fan of all the Boston PBS cooking shows, Julia Child being her favorite Chef. Later, when it became more popular on television, she watched more Guy Fieri and Michal Simon. We always seemed to be at the Cleveland Food show. Her favorite thing to cook was roast beef, she would always describe the meal that “it was to die for”.
Aunty Betty enjoyed collecting miniature doll houses and Christmas Tree ornaments. Aunty Betty would be able to decorate a tree for each of her rooms in her home. She would put her Christmas Trees and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving and they would stay up until mid-March.

Aunty Betty love to travel, she had extensively toured Europe and the British Ilse. She enjoyed taking long road trips to nowhere, often bragging about eating breakfast in Rhode Island, lunch in New Hampshire and dinner in Vermont, then a night cap back in Massachusetts. When she settled in Ohio, she loved to explore the Amish country side and back country roads. Liz was an avid card player, she enjoyed time spent at the card tables of the Foxwoods Casino and the casinos of Las Vegas. Later in life she discovered the game of Mahjong, which gave her hours of enjoyment with new friends of Strongsville.

Aunty Betty had the unique ability to talk to anyone about anything, she was always up for a good conversation, spirited or otherwise. She enjoyed saying things and watching the reaction of her audience. One of her favorite things to say was her birthday, 47/47, this threw her nurses off every time. When working as an architect, she worked with many younger people who frequently thought of her as the “old lady”. Her retort was that she had been a General in the revolution of the 1960’s, this was especially off putting to her male coworkers, giving her a chuckle every time.

When Aunty Betty was diagnosed with this terrible disease, she said the following: “I’ve had a lot of time to think lately and I realized that I don’t have a bucket list. Not only do I not have a list, but I can’t think of anything to put on a list. My realization is that I’ve been there and done that. I really have had a very full and active life.” She is truly an inspiration.

Friends and family are invited to celebrate Liz’s life on Saturday December 8,2018 at her home, 11719 Point Overlook Place Strongsville Ohio at 4pm. We will also be celebrating Liz in Massachusetts at 110 Ewing Street Stoughton Massachusetts on January 5, 2019 at 4pm.