Timothy J. Murphy, 77, a longtime Oak Lawn railroad worker and a World War II Navy veteran, died of complications of pneumonia and heart ailments Saturday, Jan. 4, in a hospital in Phoenix, Ariz., where he had retired. Born and raised on Chicago’s Southwest Side, Mr. Murphy was the son of a police officer. His mother died when he was young, and it was her death and financial problems that forced him to go to work when he was a teenager, family members said. His first job was at the Continental Can Co. in Chicago. He worked there until he was drafted in 1943. Mr. Murphy was a seaman on a landing ship tank, LST, that transported trucks, tanks, supplies and injured soldiers. During the Battle of Normandy, he loaded 20 mm shells into anti-aircraft guns. After the invasion, the 325-foot vessel was used to transport German prisoners of war and serve as an emergency hospital for American soldiers. Mr. Murphy also took part in invasions of southern France and Okinawa, and he served in the Philippines. He returned to the Chicago area after his two years of military service and worked nearly 40 years for the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad as a lever man and telephone operator. In 1997, Mr. Murphy and other veterans involved in D-Day were honored by the French Consulate for their efforts to free German-occupied France. That’s when he renewed long-lost friendships with many of the soldiers on the ship. “They were like family to him. And their families became families to us,” said his son Timothy Jr. Other survivors include his wife of 48 years, Catherine; two other sons, Robert and Patrick; three daughters, Mary Murphy-Smith, Kathleen Kelly and Margaret Murphy-Regan; a sister, Letitia Murphy; and 15 grandchildren. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church, 4100 W. 107th St., Oak Lawn.
