James (Jim) Edward Murphy

James (Jim) Edward Murphy, age 98, died at Woodland Terrace Senior Community, Cary, NC, on Monday, March 13, 2017 surrounded by his loving family and Hospice Care. Jim was born on June 15, 1918 in Brooklyn, NY. He grew up on Bard Avenue in Staten Island, NY, won a scholarship to Regis High School in Manhattan and later won a four year scholarship to Fordham University. He graduated cum laude from Fordham University with a BS degree in Pharmacy in 1939. He was a recipient of the 1938 Jacob Diner award for graduating top of his class in the Fordham College of Pharmacy.

In 1940, he joined Burroughs Welcome and Company in Tuckahoe, NY as a pharmaceutical chemist where he met the love of his life, Mildred Gawron, also a chemist. After two years of writing daily love letters to Mildred while he was stationed at Pearl Harbor naval hospital during World War II, Jim and Mildred married in 1946. He returned to Burroughs Welcome (BW) after the war, worked at their Tuckahoe location for 30 years and relocated to the Greenville, NC location where he retired in 1980. Jim was head of BW’s Analytical Development Laboratories in Greenville and Research Triangle Park. Some of Jim’s major contributions at BW were published in the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association.

Over the years, Jim was involved in many church and volunteer activities. He held leadership positions in both the Holy Name Society and Knights of Columbus Council 6600 along with delivering Meals on Wheels for 20 years. As a cancer survivor in his eighties, he participated in many Relays for Life. He was an avid reader, bowler, golfer, and photographer and pursued genealogy research in his retirement years.

He is survived by five of his six children, Jim (Ridgefield, CT), Jean (Ridgefield, CT), Brian (Durham, NC), Kathleen Murphy-Baum (St. Louis, MO), and Patricia Boerner (Falls Church, VA). He was a wonderful grandfather to 8 grandchildren, Heather, Corey, Patrick, Erin, Benjamin, Joseph, Caitlin, Christopher; and to 4 great-grandchildren, Dylan, Phoenix, Saoirse and Oliver James. Jim was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years Mildred, son Kenneth and grandson Shawn.

The family will receive guests from 4 – 7 pm on Thursday, March 16 at Mitchell Funeral Home, 7209 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC with a Prayer Service to begin at 6 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, March 17, 2017 at 1 pm at St. Raphael Catholic Church (5801 Falls of Neuse Rd in Raleigh). Burial will directly follow in Raleigh Memorial Park. Memorial contributions can be made to American Macular Degeneration Foundation.