Grain merchant.
Born at Carberry on 11 September 1884, son of Gabriel B. Murphy and Martha Armstrong (1863-1947), he moved to Winnipeg in 1910 and joined the family grain business. With Sidney Thomas Smith, he was associated with the Smith Murphy and Company and the Reliance Grain Company. He retired in 1948.
On 8 August 1914, he married Constance Mary Milroy (1893-1939), daughter of Thomas Mcketchie Milroy of Winnipeg. They had three children: Noreen Constance Murphy, Gerald Gabriel Murphy (1916-1940, killed in the Second World War, in whose memory W. A. Murphy donated a home in Crescentwood to the Royal Canadian Air Force), and Patricia Milroy Murphy (1919-1989, wife of John Kitson McIvor and Arthur James Vincent). He served as President of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange (1929-1930) and was a member of the Lakewood Country Club, Manitoba Club, and St. Charles Country Club. He was honorary chairman of the board for the Winnipeg General Hospital, and a trustee of the North American Wildlife Foundation. In 1960 he was given a Manitoba Golden Boy Award.
He died at Hobe Sound, Florida on 19 February 1968 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Paterson Grain Elevator (Bryd, RM of Yellowhead)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: McGee House (37 Kingsway, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: McKay House / Murphy House (205 Dromore Avenue, Winnipeg)
Death registration [Constance Mary Murphy], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Mrs. W. A. Murphy dies Wednesday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 1939, page 4.
“Mrs. John K. McIvor with William Michael Kitson,” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 May 1941, page 9.
“3 Winnipeg airmen killed in action aboard,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 August 1942, page 11.
“These twelve Manitobans to receive Golden Boy Awards,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 June 1960, page 12.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 February 1968, page 34.
Obituary [Patricia Vincent], Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 1989, page 34.
We thank James Arnett for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 May 2024
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