Virginia R. (Milus) Murphy

Virginia Ruth Milus Murphy was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 27, 1921 to Peter Milus and Amelia Savage, members of the city’s Lithuanian immigrant community and St. Casimir’s Church. 

Virginia graduated from Classical High School in 1938 and then received her R.N. from St. Vincent’s Nursing School.   In 1943 she joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a nurse.  After training in Mississippi, she served with the Allied Air Force in Central Burma in the China-Burma-India theater and was discharged in January 1946 as a 1st Lieutenant.  Before returning to Worcester, she worked at the V.A. hospital at Ft. Harrison, Montana and in California.   In 1952 she married U.S. Marine Master Sergeant John M. Murphy, and with him had three daughters, Mary, Margaret, and Madelyn. 

Virginia and John raised their daughters in Marlboro, Massachusetts in a Cape Cod house with flower and vegetable gardens, an old apple tree, easy access to rambling woods, and two cats.  On Saturdays they went to the public library and often explored Massachusetts’s historic sites; in the summer they took day trips to the beach.  When her girls were near high school, Virginia returned to work as a nurse.  Upon John’s retirement, he and Virginia moved to Bandera, Texas.  Virginia loved Texas; she loved the wide horizons, stepping outside her door at night to look at bright stars, and she loved horses.  At age 56 she learned to ride and subsequently owned several horses, which gave her enormous pleasure. 

After John’s death in 1990, Virginia remained in her Bandera home until she was 88, at which point she went to live with her daughter Margaret, who cared for her until her death on June 8, 2017.  She is survived by her three daughters and three grandchildren, Shaun, Trevor, and Rachel Somes.

She will be interred at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Boston Public Library.

 Service Information