John M. Murphy

John was born on June 19, 1938 in the Fox Point section of Providence. His parents, Jeremiah and Catherine (Healy) Murphy, emigrated from Ireland – he from Cork and she from Kerry – and settled in Providence in 1927. Despite growing up in neighboring counties in Ireland, they met and married in Rhode Island and had two sons: John and his elder brother, Jeremiah, a major with the Providence Police Department and John’s lifetime hero. Having contracted tuberculosis in the copper mines of Ireland, their father passed away when John was just a few months old.

John graduated from Hope High School in 1956 and briefly attended Bryant College before joining the Army and serving in Korea from 1958 to 1960. Upon his return, John entered the workforce, gaining invaluable experience in the business of consumer loans around the country. John moved back to Providence in 1965, and he was elected to the Providence City Council, serving Ward One (Wickenden Street to Wayland Square) for four terms (1967 to 1975). During this time, he courted Grace, the youngest sister of his best friend, Antonio Sousa. Grace fell for her “Johnny”, and they married on May 17, 1969, building a life that deeply valued faith, family, and hard work.

As councilman, John noticed one common challenge in his diverse Fox Point neighborhood: his constituents’ financial inability to purchase a home. This inspired John to employ his vocational skills in commerce to resurrect the inactive state charter of Home Loan Investment Bank. Within a generation, under John’s initiative, the bank converted to a federal charter, securitized loans on Wall Street, and originated home equity mortgages in 48 states.

Throughout his decorated career, and with the unwavering support of his wife, John served as CEO of Beara Capital, Northern National Life Insurance Company, and the Home Credit Corporation of Rhode Island. As a banking pioneer and entrepreneur nonpareil, he originated billions of dollars in home equity mortgages throughout the United States. In 1991 and 1992, INC. magazine named John the finance industry’s Entrepreneur of the Year. John also helped found the Mentoring and Tutoring Institute (MTI) Program at the University of Rhode Island in 2008. Years later, both URI and Providence College recognized John with honorary doctoral degrees.

Over the course of his remarkable career, John has gifted millions of dollars to deserving institutions, including the Rhode Island Foundation, St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence, Assumption Parish Food Ministry, Fatima Hospital, and countless more. John also supported a telecommunications effort in Ireland that connected rural hospitals to the research libraries and databases of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Passionate about education, John helped finance the San Miguel School in Providence and the Louverture Cleary School in Haiti; financially established an educational alliance for Southeast Asians; and spearheaded and underwrote the Major Jeremiah Murphy Scholarship Fund for the children of Providence police officers, named in honor of his brother.

At Providence College, John developed a scholarship program for students of African American heritage in honor of his good friend, the late Dr. Kenneth Walker and, years later, he endowed the Murphy-Healy Irish Lecture Series, an annual event on Irish American culture. The lecture series, named after his parents, reflects the love of a son to his mother and father, who sacrificed so much during difficult times to raise their children in faith and service. In 2021, John was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.

A fixture on the sideline and in the audience of nearly every field, court, or stage his sons and grandchildren stepped onto, John will be remembered for his unending generosity, encouragement, boisterous laugh, and great storytelling, especially his tales of Fox Point, about which his wife would say, “He needs to write a book!”

Along with his wife, John is survived by his four loving sons, John “Jay” M. Murphy Jr. and his wife Melissa, Kevin B. Murphy and his wife Kate, Brian J. Murphy and his wife Amy, and Daniel A. Murphy. He was the cherished grandfather of Jane, Katie, Mary Grace, Jeremiah, William, John “Jack” III, Sam, Amelia, Olivia, Lauren, and Rory Murphy.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, June 18, 2024 from 4:00-8:00 pm with his funeral on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at 8:30 am in the Russell J. Boyle & Son Funeral Home, 142 Centerville Road, Warwick. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 10:00 am in Our Lady of Mercy Church, 65 3rd Street, East Greenwich. Graveside burial with military honors will follow in St. Francis Cemetery, Pawtucket. In lieu of flowers, donations in John’s memory to the Fox Point Boys and Girls Club (90 Ives Street, Providence, RI 02906) will be appreciated.