Charles Leehy Murphy (1920 - 2017)

Born 22 Apr 1920 in Minot, North Dakota

Descendants

Died 4 Apr 2017 at age 96 in Maryland

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Biography

Charles L. Murphy was born Minot, ND on April 22, 1920. He was the son of James Francis Murphy, Esq. and Marie (Harris) McLean Murphy. Raised in Fargo, ND, he was youngest of seven siblings. He and his beloved wife, Margaret Estelle Kennelly (deceased) were married for 62 years and raised seven children in Mandan, ND and Bethesda, MD: Mary Ellen MacCarthy (nee Murphy), Timothy Patrick Murphy, Ann Connor Macuch (nee Murphy), John Patrick Murphy, William Patrick Murphy, Stephen Patrick Murphy and Robert Patrick Murphy. French was his first language as a young child in Fargo. His maternal grandmother was a French speaking Canadian and live in the Murphy home for several years. He graduated from high school in Fargo and started his itinerant college career with sojourns at University of North Dakota, Georgetown University, University of Oregon and he completed his studies at University of California - Berkeley. He worked as a stenographer at U of Oregon for Wayne Morse, then Dean of U of Oregon Law School, and at UC-Berkeley, graduating there in 1944.

During his college years, he earned money from various jobs to pay for his education. He was a radio broadcaster at small radio station in Grand Forks, ND, Washington, DC, Eugene, OR and Berkeley, CA. A few years after he graduated, he orchestrated the live NBC broadcast of the dedication ceremony of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND in 1949.

After college, Margaret and Charles met on a blind date arranged by Margaret's twin sister, Mary Ellen Kennelly. They were married in June 1945. His post-college career included union organizing and selling health and life insurance policies in North Dakota. He decided to follow his father and older brother into the practice of law. He read for the law, and was admitted in ND, passing the bar in 1953, and served as Assistant Attorney General for the Public Service Commission. He was elected to the ND State Senate in 1958 for a two-year term. He was nominated by unanimous consent at the 1960 convention of the ND Democratic Party (aka The Non-Partisan League in ND) to the office of Attorney General for the State of North Dakota.

He was nominated by unanimous consent at the 1960 convention of the ND Democratic Party (aka the Non-Partisan League in ND) to the office of Attorney General for the State of North Dakota. During 1960 campaign for AG, Charles tried to get Governor Bill Guy to conduct and investigation of child sexual abuses at the North Dakota State Reform School. The school was located in Charles' district as a member of the ND State Senate. The Governor refused to discuss the issue so Charles took it upon himself to confront the Governor by interrupting a live radio news conference broadcast state-wide and ask the Governor to meet with him to discuss the allegations of sexual abuse at the school. The Governor agreed to meet with him but Charles knew that he sacrificed his chance of winning the election for AG by challenging the Governor publicly. The NPL decided to withhold contributing funds to his campaign and he was the only NPL candidate for a state-wide office in 1960 that was defeated.

Charles' campaign for North Dakota AG in 1960 was unsuccessful so they decided to accept a job offer from the newly-elected administration of President John F. Kennedy to relocate to Washington, DC and work as an Assistant General Counsel of the FDIC. He was admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia and admitted to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States. He worked at FDIC until he was injured in an accident that prevented him from continuing his legal work at FDIC and he retired in 1973. Margaret and Charles volunteered at several local organizations including the public library (Margaret) and a newly founded organization named So Others Might Eat (Charles). SOME started in the 1970s under the stewardship of Father Horace McKenna, S.J. as a soup kitchen in DC and has grown into a shelter and training organization for those in need.

Margaret Murphy passed away in 2007 after a short illness and Charles Murphy passed away of natural causes on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 peacefully in his sleep.

Sources

• Obituary. In personal possession. 19 August 2017.

"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKJB-BCH : accessed 27 April 2019), Charles L Murphy in household of Francis Murphy, Fargo, Cass, North Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 38, sheet 6B, line 78, family 139, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1733; FHL microfilm 2,341,467.