Barbara was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 23, 1945, to Alfred and Rose Steinberg. She grew up in Queens, New York and graduated from Jamaica High School and moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan when she was sixteen. Barbara married former spouse Bill Murphy in 1965. She graduated with a BA in Linguistics and Psycholinguistics in 1967 and continued with Graduate work in Educational Psychology. Always politically engaged, Barbara was an early member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), where she made life-long friendships.
Barbara made Ann Arbor’s Old West Side her home - where, since 1964, she was a beloved neighbor, friend, and activist - and the University of Michigan her professional home. Her thirty-three-year career with the University of Michigan began in 1967 as an editor at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, later secretary at the Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, followed by positions as a Computer Consultant, Procedures Analyst and ultimately Research Associate at the Institute. Active in the early days of the Women’s Initiatives, she served as Assistant Chair of the Commission for Women, Office of the University President (1974–1977) and in positions in the Office of Affirmative Action.
Barbara took a four-year hiatus from UM to serve as Director of the Equal Opportunities Office at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She returned to the UM and served as Administrative Manager of the School of Natural Resources (1984-1990), and after that, Assistant to the Dean for Budget and Personnel in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (1990-2000), the position from which she retired.
Through both her professional work and her community service Barbara exercised her passion for working for a socially just world and she consulted for a variety of government and non-profit organizations including Washtenaw County Assault Crisis Center, the Federal Programs Advisory Service and the Health and Human Services "Higher Education and the Handicapped" project in Washington, DC.
Throughout, Barbara’s many volunteer commitments included serving on the Boards of the Guild House Campus Ministries, Old West Side Association, and the Huron Valley Girl Scout Council Finance Committee. She was elected for three terms to be a member of the Ann Arbor District Library Board of Trustees.
Barbara Murphy was, personally and professionally, a force to be reckoned with! She was a resourceful, spirited, generous, truth-telling, playful friend to hundreds of people near and far, and a great lover of many cats. She made her home on Second Street a welcome and nourishing space for connection, laughter, and wonderful food for over 50 years.
Barbara traveled extensively and enthusiastically. Early in her career in she spent fifteen months at the Turkish Development Foundation, Ankara, Turkey assessing needs for computer software systems and systems analysis. In 1977, while visiting Britain, Germany and France, she met her husband-to-be, Gavin, in Scotland. They each traversed the Atlantic several times before Gavin emigrated to the US in 1979. Barbara married Gavin Ramsay Eadie in Ann Arbor on November 16, 1984. Subsequently, Barbara and Gavin made many journeys together, often with friends, to Britain, Alaska, Antarctica, Australia, Italy, France, the Galapagos Islands, Turkey and the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and nearby countries.
A graveside service, officiated by long-time friend Julie Gales, was held, and Barbara laid to rest, on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, at the Arborcrest Memorial Park, 2521 Glazier Way, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. At some later date her life will celebrated publicly.
She is survived by her husband, Gavin Eadie, her sister Lynda Steinberg (Tony Jiga) of Manhattan, New York, and her niece Alexandra Jiga (Geoff Abbott) of Rockland, Maine.
Contributions may be made to the ACLU of Michigan:
2966 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
You may leave memories of Barbara at:
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