Iola Marie Murphy, 92, passed away on Sunday at her residence. She was born in Racine on June 23, 1925, the daughter of the late Vincen and Susan (Nee: Linden) Kaiser.
Iola was a graduate of Washington Park High School “Class of 1942”. On October 2, 1943 she was united in marriage to John G. Murphy who preceded her in death on May 26, 2011.
She was a member of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church. Iola was an ESL tutor with the Adult Learning Program for eighteen years, which she loved doing and gave her great fulfillment. An avid reader, she also enjoyed crossword puzzles. Most of all she cherished time spent with family and friends.
She will be dearly missed by her 11 children: Susan (William) Miller, Patricia (James) Holub, Ann Pavilonis (Norm McPhee), all of Racine; Mary (Thomas) Gustin of Stevens Point, WI, Michael (Rebecca) Murphy of LaCrosse, WI, Mark Murphy of Racine, Ruth (Felix) Morgan of Albuquerque, NM, Rita (Luis) Gomez of Hercules, CA, John (Felicia) Murphy of Racine, Paul Murphy of Pflugerville, TX, Jane (Reza) Taheri of San Jose, CA; 26 grandchildren; Patricia Miller, John (Michele) Miller, James (Joanna) Holub, Pamela (Terry) Cisewski, Gregory Pavilonis, Martin (Tracy) Pavilonis, T.R. (Jennifer) Gustin, Heather (Mark) Mayfield, Emily Murphy, Sarah Murphy (Ryan Billig), Joseph Murphy, Bevin Murphy, Tony (Denise) Johnson, Tammy Johnson, Jeremy Johnson, Jessica (Jon) Ellison, Alex Gomez. Amy Armour, Russell (Lisa) Murphy, Leah Murphy, Kathryne, Kristina, Johnathan and Joshua Murphy, Kiana (Mark) Hackett and Nicole Taheri; 34 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; brother, James (Rita) Kaiser; sister-in-law, Dorothy Murphy; nieces nephews, other relatives and dear friends.
In addition to her parents and husband she was also preceded in death by her mother-in-law and father-in-law, George and Emma Murphy; son-in-law, James DeGroot; sister and brother-in-law, Harriet and Sam Ferraro; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Jean and Hub Braun, Alice and Orville Finsen, James and Pat Murphy, Rae Ann Kaiser.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, with Father Yamid Blanco officiating. Private entombment will be held at Holy Cross Garden Mausoleum, Hwy. 32. Relatives and friends may meet with the family Thursday at the church from 4 p.m. until time of Mass at 5:30 p.m.
For those wishing to make a memorial donation, St. Monica’s Senior Living or Grace Hospice have been suggested.
The family would like to express their sincere thanks to the staff at St. Monica’s for their loving and compassionate care given Iola in the eleven months she resided there. Also a thank you to Grace Hospice for their kindness and help in her final three weeks.