Lee Murphy
May 1, 1947-Dec. 11, 2022
Menlo Park, CA
Submitted by Abby Collins
Nancy “Lee” (Press) Murphy was born in Chicago, IL to Norman and Eleanor Press. Nancy attended Catholic grammar and high schools in LaGrange, IL and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. It was there that Nancy decided to go by her middle name, “Lee” when there were five other Nancy’s living on her dorm room floor. While many other girls were reading Nancy Drew books growing up, Lee read Vicki Barr flight attendant books.
In 1967, Lee moved to Boston and became a flight attendant for TWA so she could travel the world. In December 1968, Lee went on a blind date and met her future husband Jack Murphy. Later that year, Jack proposed to Lee at 1 a.m. at the Old Water Tower in Chicago and in October 1969 the two were married in Brookline, MA. Jack and Lee lived in many different locations over their 50 year marriage, including Boston, New York, Vancouver, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Castle Pines, Woodside, Westport, Carmel, and Menlo Park. Jack pre-deceased Lee in November 2019.
Ultimately an entrepreneur at heart, Lee started her own company, Calla Designs, Inc. in 1985 representing jewelry lines at various Junior League and other trade-shows. In 1989, Lee and her family moved to Woodside, CA where she and the then owner of Images of Woodside, Charlene became friends. Charlene encouraged Lee to sell lines of clothing from within the salon which gave Lee the confidence to open her first boutique in Menlo Park in 1993, Calla. In the years that followed, Lee opened, owned and operated five more stores - Calla Los Altos, Pink Wasabi Crystal Cove, Pink Wasabi Carmel, Kicks, and Number Six.
Up until her recent illness that led to hospice care, Lee was still actively traveling, buying for future seasons, and working almost daily at Kicks in the pursuit of finding “fabulous” things to delight her customers. Lee loved the beach, traveling, binge watching new shows, discovering the next hottest trend in food, toasting with a glass of champagne, and fashion.
The Menlo Park community and her customers were a very important part of Lee’s life. She made life-long friends over her 30 years as a merchant. Most of all Lee was a proud mother and loved her extended and very modern family.
Lee is survived by her two brothers and their wives, Jim and Carol Press and Jeff and Eileen Press; her sister in law, Mary Murphy; oldest son Matt and his wife Laura and their three children, Sara, Nolan and Ben; middle daughter Abby and her daughter Catie, Abby’s fiance Rick and his three daughters Kelsey, Taylor, and Rylee; former son-in-law Trent Collins and his partner Cristina; and youngest son Ryan and his wife Tracy. The family is especially grateful to Dr. Henry Chun at Kaiser in Redwood City who saved her life more than once and to her caregivers, William H. and Taiana F., who cared for her as they would their own mother in her final weeks.
