Lasting Memories

Charlotte Murphy
1925-Oct. 15, 2018
Menlo Park, California

Charlotte Perkins Mansfield Murphy, age 92, passed away peacefully at home in Menlo Park with family by her side on October 15, 2018. She was born on November 18, 1925, in Morristown, New Jersey, the oldest of four children of Lewis Pierce Mansfield and Elinor Perkins Mansfield. She moved with her family to San Francisco in 1935 and graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School there in 1943. She attended Vassar College, graduating in 1946, and was married that same year to Daniel Jerome Murphy, who had recently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Charlotte and Jerry, together with their growing family, lived in a number of places (including the Bay area, Long Beach, San Diego, Hawaii, Washington, DC, Cuba and Albuquerque). The family’s final move was in 1958 to Mallet Court in Menlo Park, which was Charlotte’s home for the rest of her life. In addition to raising and making a home for seven children and a number of dogs, cats and other assorted pets, Charlotte was an active member of the community, including leading Great Books discussion courses for adults and local school children, working part time at the local toy store and book store, helping to correct and grade English papers for teachers in the local public schools, and volunteering at the Sacred Heart retirement home in Atherton. She was a lover of books and a voracious reader – often having several books going at once with more waiting to be started, stacked by her bed or on the many jammed bookcases throughout the house. She also loved sharing her knowledge and love of learning with others, working for twenty-seven years until she was 87 as a classroom instructional aide at Menlo Atherton and Woodside high schools, as well as tutoring numerous students at her home in English, Latin and writing. She was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, attending a number of games including Opening Day. But most of all she loved her family – particularly her three daughters, four sons, fifteen grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. She is survived by all of her children - Katherine Stoner, Malinda Stevens, Daniel Murphy, Pierce Murphy, Elizabeth Schmidt, Drew Murphy and Miles Murphy - as well as her sister, Polly Mansfield, and beloved nieces and nephews.