Estelle R. Murphy, 91, of Apostolic Nursing Home in Eureka died at 2:55 p.m. Saturday (April 17, 2010) at the nursing home.

She was born March 27, 1919, in Peoria, to John E. and Mary Carter Cassidy. She married Thomas Murphy on April 22, 1950, in Peoria. He died April 1, 2008, in Peoria. She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Susan Mary, as well as four brothers and eight sisters.

She is survived by three daughters, Terri (partner Phyllis Moody) Murphy of Hillsborough, N.C.; Maggie (David) Severino of Carlock; and Lisa (Jeff) Jones of Brimfield; three grandchildren, Amy Bevins, Ryan Jones and Carley Jones; and one brother, Thomas Cassidy of Peoria.

Estelle attended St. John's Grade School and graduated from Manual High School.

She was a member of St. Mark Catholic Church, Peoria.

She devoted the early part of her adult years to raising her four daughters, including faithfully and lovingly caring for her oldest, disabled daughter, Susan, until her death at the age of 19 in 1970. She lived through the depression and always remembered the value of not wasting money or things. In addition to passing that value on to her children, she taught her children to value integrity, justice and to have respect for all people.

After her children were older, she became very active with numerous organizations, including the League of Women Voters, Peoria Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC), South Side Mission, Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and West Peoria government. In the late 1970s she was president of the Illinois Society for Autistic Children and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Developmental Disabilities Advocacy Authority.

She was creative and incredibly productive, enjoying activities such as basket making, cross- stitching, furniture refinishing and gourmet cooking. She had a well-earned reputation for finding incredible deals at estate and garage sales. She loved poetry, chocolate, gardening, antiques, clever puns, lively political debate, good manners, good posture and good grammar. Estelle created many years of precious memories with her Christmas morning champagne breakfasts. Those traditions live on in the lives of her children and grandchildren. Most of all, Estelle adored children of all ages and had a special gift for communicating with the very young children. Her greatest joy in her later years was the birth of her grandchildren and the time she was able to spend with them.

She spent her final years at the Apostolic Nursing Home in Eureka, where she was lovingly and tenderly cared for by the staff, who treated her like family.