Patricia Ann Murphy

Sr. Patricia Murphy was born in Boston, MA, November 17, 1925 to Thomas J. and Gertrude Regan Murphy and grew up in a closely knit family with seven boys and four girls. When she met some FMM Commissioners selling goods to support the missions, Pat was touched especially by a photo of one of the Sisters picking up an orphan child left on their convent steps.

She entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary at Fruit Hill, N. Providence, on September 17, 1944 and made her First Vows September 17 in 1947. Her final vows were pronounced the same date, in 1951. Her first mission was sending to Our Lady of Good Help in Orient Heights, East Boston and then to a newly opened convent in Brighton where she was a house mother to boys in Kennedy Memorial Hospital, now known as Franciscan Hospital for Children. Next, Pat taught in Espiritu Santo School in Fall River, MA before she was missioned to Japan to teach in Stella Maris International School in Kobe in 1958. In 1965, she returned to the United States to study and obtained a B.A. in Sociology from Emmanuel College, Boston and after this, did studies in Theology at Manhattan College, New York. From 1969 to 1986, Pat was Superior of our Fall River convent and Principal of Espiritu Santo School. In 1986 she was missioned to our house in Chicago to teach at St. Jerome School for two years. After this, her mission was to North Providence to be coordinator of the local community there where our FMM Infirmary and later, Assisted Living Center is located. Pat’s time there was until 1991 when she was missioned to St. Francis in San Francisco, CA, doing pastoral outreach. 1995 brought Pat back to the East Coast in Cambridge, MA to do “Grand- parenting” at the parish School volunteer mission.

Finally, Sr. Pat’s most recent mission has been to be a resident of Holy Family Community at Fruit Hill, N. Providence where she has ministered to others in a local nursing home as well as to the community and those who attend mass at the chapel. Her kindness to others, especially those less fortunate or needy, gives her a real Franciscan spirit. She is known for her compassion.

Sr. Murphy's funeral will be held on Friday, July 14, at 11:00 am in Holy Family Chapel, 399 Fruit Hill Avenue, North Providence. Burial will follow in Holy Family Chapel. Visiting hours will be held Thursday, July 13, from 4:00 - 7:00. For online condolences, visit boyleandsonfunerals.com