Sister of Charity Mary Bernadette Murphy, 94

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, April 16 at 11 a.m. Holy Family Chapel in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township for Sister Mary Bernadette Murphy, who was a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth for 77 years. He died on April 10 at Complete Care at St. Vincent’s in Cedar Grove. She was 94.

Sister Murphy served in educational ministry in New Jersey for about 60 years. She was the sister of Father Joseph E. Murphy, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, who died in 2023. He was 94.

Born in Newark, Sister Murphy entered the Sisters of Charity in 1948. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the College of St. Elizabeth, now St. Elizabeth University, in Convent Station. She also earned teacher-librarian certification from St. Elizabeth’s.

Sister Murphy taught at Our Lady of Lourdes School in West Orange, St. Francis School in Ridgefield Park, St. Aloysius School in Newark, and St. John School in Orange. She retired from full-time classroom teaching at St. John in 2010. At this time, Sister Murphy was a teaching assistant to Sister Patricia Bray, a friend. She served St. Aloysius for 26 years and St. John for 25 years.

When St. John’s closed in 2012, Sister Murphy moved to the Convent of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station. She began her volunteer ministry at St. Anne Villa, providing loving, compassionate service to infirm Sisters of Charity. Due to declining health, Sister Murphy moved in June 2024 to Complete Care at St. Vincent’s, where she resided until her death.

In addition to Father Murphy, Sister Murphy was predeceased by her parents, Mary Agnes (Connors) and Joseph V. Murphy; her sisters, Dorothy Soley and Rita Feeney; her sister-in-law, Marie Murphy; and her brothers-in-law, Joseph Valvano, Jack Soley, and Thomas Feeney.

Sister Murphy is survived by her Sister of Charity community; her sisters, Kathleen Murphy, Eleanor Valvano, and Joan Davie; her brother, John Murphy; and her brother-in-law, William Davie. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and a great-grandniece and great-grandnephew.

Sister Murphy’s wake will be held on Wednesday, April 16, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in Holy Family Chapel. It will be followed at 11 a.m. by her Mass of Christian Burial, which will be livestreamed. After the Mass, she will be buried in Holy Family Cemetery in Convent Station.

Memorial contribution in Sister Murphy’s memory may be made to Sisters of Charity Office of Legacy and Mission Advancement, P O Box 476, Convent Station, N.J. 07961.

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