Helen Huette Murphy

As our much-beloved Helen Huette Murphy drew her final breath on August 5, 2022, almost imperceptibly, the earth, too, issued a soft sigh, the sun dimmed slightly and the night became that much deeper for her family and friends.

Helen Marie Huette was born to John and Carmella (Esposito) Huette on November 9, 1942 in the bucolic, but hard-working, village of Dansville, NY. She and her sister Anne, along with brothers Joe and John, grew up strong and happy surrounded by family and a community of nurturing, humble, kind, diligent and determined people. They didn’t complain when times were tough and they rose to the occasion when duty called. They relied on their faith, their wits and the goodness of their neighbors to carry them through all that life threw at them. These are the attributes that Helen took with her everywhere she went. And she went far.

At the tender age of 19 and after attending the Bryant Stratton Business Institute, Helen married her high school sweetheart, Paul Murphy, and they formed a marriage that would last 60 years. Soon began the challenging life of a Navy wife. Through eight duty stations, a tour of Viet Nam, several rounds of sea duty, professional jobs, many church parishes, school districts, HOA associations, cultures and neighbors, together they raised five daughters, Trish Scott (Doug), Jill McDowell (Nevil), Karen, Erin and Jennifer. Throughout all the different phases and conditions of her life, Helen brought the integrity, compassion and wherewithal to make her family life, workplace and community better.

Helen always found time to go the extra mile. She volunteered for the Navy Wives’ Club, led Girl Scout troops, engaged in the Altar Society, scrapbooked and even joined a city soccer team at the age of 40! The whole team called her “Mom”. She made countless dishes and desserts for potlucks. She provided dinners for the “geo-batchelors” who lived away from home during the workweek. Whatever she was asked to help out with she did with a willing cheerfulness.

Perhaps Helen’s greatest joy was the birth of her two granddaughters, Helen and Eliza McDowell. She helped to imbue in them the same qualities of can-do spirit, generosity and pure love that she instilled within her daughters.

Finally, in Helen’s later years, she had the opportunity to travel both domestically and abroad. She derived great happiness from visiting new places, meeting new people and sampling local cuisine. As always, she demonstrated the fine human qualities she was raised with every place she visited. She once literally gave the shirt off her back to a lady in Japan who had admired it.

Endearingly, Helen often distributed two-dollar bills in greeting cards, to people caught performing a good deed or as prizes in her beloved trivia contests. Many members or friends of the Helen Murphy family have at least one two-dollar bill saved in fond memory of her.

So here we are, left stranded in the gaping hole of our hearts, wondering how we will go on without Helen’s protective, guiding spirit. But all who love her will know her spirit is always there, encouraging us, vicariously enjoying our triumphs and enveloping us with her unrestrained and everlasting love in our sadness.

Somehow through Helen’s example, we will go forth with the love, humility, dignity and respect she so exemplified in her own life to continue to make our own families, communities and the world a better place for having known her.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 AM Wednesday, August 10, 2022 at St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church, 95 Hasell Street, Charleston. Following the funeral, the family will greet friends at a reception to be held at the Hibernian Society Hall, 105 Meeting Street, Charleston. A public visitation will be held Tuesday evening between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the James A. McAlister Funeral Home, 1620 Savannah Highway, Charleston. The Rosary will be recited at 6:30 PM.

Arrangements by James A. McAlister, (843) 766-1365.