ARTHUR ALEXANDER MURPHY

Condolences & Memories (7 entries)

• My Mother, Andre Miner, worked for Art for quite a few years back in the 60s. She always spoke highly of him, of his kindness and generosity. Meeting him at Shoppers always brought a smile to her face years later. Enjoy the memories he has left you with. - Posted by: Linda Mager (Acquaintance and daughter of an employee) on: May 01, 2018

• On behalf of my family and friends I wish to thank Vince & Cheryl Warden (Art's nephew & wife) for all their love and attention they gave Art. They were there to help at all times and Art loved them dearly. They loved and respected him. I would like to also like people to know how much help my daughter Diane was to Art and myself. Diane checked Art every evening before going to bed and every morning. Without the help of Diane, Vince/Cheryl Art would not have been able to remain at home this past year. He was eternally grateful for their love and affection as am I. He will also be very missed by his extended family of Rick/Tanis Selman and their boys Aiden & Daniel; as well as Sean/Kirsten Spokes and their children Kaelie and Marcas. He loved them all very much and had lots of fun with them. Art Murphy was a very special man who lived life to the fullest, did not dwell on the past and never held grudges. There are so many wonderful memories of travelling with him, casino trips, horse races and watching hours of the Jets, Bombers and curling. Art was very well read and followed all the current events and ready to discuss them all with anyone. I knew Art over 60 years and feel the world would be a better place if more people had his outlook on life. Rest in Peace - you deserve it dear friend. - Posted by: Ida Selman (Long time friend/companion) on: Apr 18, 2018

• From daughters, Diane (Gerry), Jan (Gilles), grandchildren, Jill, Chris, Alix, great grandchildren Jackson, Matthew, Jacob and Sawyer, may you Rest In Peace. - Posted by: Diane Roussin (Daughter) on: Apr 15, 2018

• Today is Saturday, and I have a thousand great Saturday memories. Saturday was always the day to “visit Grandpa’s” - which was Murphy’s Drug Store at 970 St Mary’s Road. From some of my earliest memories up until the store sold to Shoppers in 1986 when I was 14, “Grandpa’s store” was a fixture in our family and the community. My mom and her sisters had grown-up there and worked there, my dad had studied pharmacy and worked there, my sister and I had our first jobs there, and even my brother and younger cousins had “helped out in the stock room” while being still a bit too young for official employment. The store was a community hub and there were people in St Vital across 3 generations that had their first jobs there. Even after that, my Grandpa continued working in the pharmacy at Shoppers Drug Mart (in St Vital Mall and later on Dakota St) until just before his 90th birthday, so “lunch with Grandpa on Saturday” remained a weekly family ritual for many years. I remember being just 5-6 years old and whining to my mom early on a Saturday morning “WHEN are we going to Grandpa's store???" and being dismayed that there were HOURS to wait. SO many Saturdays. The grown-ups sat in a corner behind the dispensary counter, sipping coffee and talking in-between my Grandpa filling prescriptions and him having a friendly chat with the folks who came to pick them up. Meanwhile my brother and I would read comic books from the rack, race through the store and stockroom playing hide-and-seek (troublemakers!), explore the endlessly curious shelves of gift items, the contemporary LP rack (for those who might browse and decide to purchase an AC/DC or Meatloaf album while waiting to get their prescription?), and the old but never-dusty stockroom shelves lined with items that sat waiting to restock the front - all of which would eventually become as familiar and memorized as home. Not to mention the VERY serious study of the candy racks! Often my Grandpa would give us each a dollar to buy a treat and a soda from the tall chest-cooler at the front of the store - also a now-bygone trove of delightful variety. How to choose between Crush’s super-pink cream soda and Snow White cream soda? Or the multiple root beer offerings? We climbed and dug deep into the chest of stacked soda cans, our feet dangling off the floor to reach the inner bottom, unable to keep track of the choices. (There were no diet sodas back then, until Tab began making an appearance. It was still a sugary paradise at that time.) Often we’d walk a few doors down the block to Southgate Restaurant (or “John’s” as it was known to us) for burgers with fries and we’d eat all together either in a booth at Southgate or in the back room at Grandpa’s store. Family birthdays were celebrated at the store, with family and the like-family staff congregating in the back room for song, good wishes and a slice of Jeanne’s cake. SO many Saturdays. As mentioned in the obituary that my mom wrote so lovingly, my Grandpa was also the awe-inspiring benefactor for trips to the Shrine Circus, occasional games from his original Winnipeg Jets season tickets, and rides galore each year at the Red River Ex. Being the lone thrill-seeker in my family, I was only able go on the Zipper ride as a kid because my Grandpa accompanied me when nobody else would brave it! When I attended U of M, as a near-adult myself, I’d still meet people who told me they remembered Murphy’s Drug Store. And when I’d mention the person’s name to Grandpa he’d say “oh that must be a kid of so-and-so, from over on Berrydale Ave.” And sure enough I’d learn those were the grandparents of my new friend. In that same timeframe, the family planned his 75th birthday with a special presentation including a bagpiper showing up at my Grandpa’s work with a big cake wheeled-in on a cart. I fretted about missing the elaborate surprise entrance due to an exam that morning, but instead he told me – as grandparents do – that he was very proud of me for putting my studies first. During these last 25 years of his life, I have lived in BC. I returned to visit him often and was so glad and grateful to maintain my place in his life – and also glad and grateful that he always remained vibrant, full of purpose, full of spirit, full of love. My Grandpa found joy in a great many things but it was those little interests that seemed to be only ours that I’ll cherish most. Like when I took up coin collecting in the late-90s and then discovered that he too had a collection going back many years. That was another trait we shared: having a quiet and private side. And, most definitely, I recognize that it is my Grandpa’s love for Winnipeg that became a trait of mine, too. Never blind to its faults or challenges, it was unquestionably the only place he ever cared to be. For him, trips beyond Manitoba’s border were few and far between. As my parents, then my siblings and myself moved away from Winnipeg, it became clear that my attachment to this place is special, like his. When I think about Winnipeg, seeing it either through memory’s eye or especially on those too-infrequent visits back, I think I’m seeing the city in the same way my Grandpa saw it. Very special, wonderful in an all-around way, so many very fond memories, with new fond memories seemingly always waiting to be made. And at 100 yrs old and counting, that’s the same way that I’ve always seen him: very special, wonderful in an all-around way, so many very fond memories, with new fond memories seemingly always waiting to be made. Today is a Saturday, and would have been a very special Saturday visit with my Grandpa, for his 101st Birthday. That was apparently not meant to be, but I remember celebrating his 75th, 80th, 85th, 90th, 95th and even 100th birthdays, each milestone accompanied by an increased possibility, naturally, that the next might not be meant to be. All of those years, all of that time, a gift to be enjoyed for what it was. I would be greatly remiss to not mention my Grandpa’s service in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII. Not because I knew him to be proud of it – on the contrary he preferred to never discuss it – but for two good reasons nonetheless. One is that it profoundly shaped his outlook on life. I did not make a connection between his penchant for enjoying every possible celebratory day and his war experience until hearing about one of his very rare comments about it, made just last year: “standing on a ship’s deck with shells exploding overhead and realizing we were all expected to die… I’ve had 80 years of borrowed time.” This comment also gave me new insight into why he never cared to dwell much on life’s big difficulties, putting them aside – not always easily – to focus instead on wherever the immediate joys awaited; he knew how precious is the time we get to be alive, how you don’t ever know if you’ll have more than today, and he knew first-hand there were so many who hadn’t had the same time he did. The second reason that it’s worth mentioning is there are so few left to teach each us this perspective. If he hadn’t lived all the way to be 100 years old, then even I wouldn’t know this about him. It is the voices closest to us that can have this impact, but we all need it because we are enjoying our lives in a world built on their great sacrifice. Thanks for everything you gave me and taught me, Grandpa! Happy Birthday, I’ll miss you always. - Posted by: Jodi Murphy (Grand-Daughter) on: Apr 14, 2018

• My first job was at the pharmacy. He was a wonderful boss, enjoyed my time there stocking shelves and delivering prescriptions. I was 14 at the time. Back in the mid 1960s. Wonderful man back then and still. Enjoyed the recent trips to Shootstar Casino. RIP. - Posted by: Murray Dahl (Employee and acquaintance) on: Apr 12, 2018

• What a wonderful life well lived. Your father was an amazing man and you loved him dearly. You and your dad were such good friends and I know you will miss him and will cherish your memories of him. Thinking of you and sending love your way. - Posted by: Sylvia Furch Rothney (Friend) on: Apr 10, 2018

• Wishing you love & peace Barb, as you learn to live without your incredible Dad 😘 - Posted by: Liz wight (Friend ) on: Apr 10, 2018