John Denis Murphy died at Calvary Hospital, Canberra on 22 October 1988. Although he had lived in Canberra ACT since 1979 his active professional life had been in NSW. He was born on 29 October 1921 in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield where his father was a master butcher. John was the elder of two boys. He attended Marcellan College, Randwick and graduated from Sydney University with honours in 1945. During his intern year at St Vincent's Hospital he met Patricia Thompson a young nursing probationer who was to be his future wife. They became engaged and this abruptly finished Pat's nursing career as the hospital rules about engagement and marriage of probationer nurses were very strict. Pat came of an old Monaro family and they were married at St Christopher's Cathedral, Canberra in 1946 shortly after John had finished his internship.

John and Pat soon moved into an established partnership practice at Fairfield. They often spoke of Fairfield as being a rather isolated country area of outer Sydney in those days. It had a big Italian community and John used to speak of a hilarious incident involving a large angry Italian family threatening him with hoes and other implements in the street outside his house. He had insisted on the central character having hospital delivery for her baby rather than the traditional Calabrian extravaganza with the family at home. They remained some two and a half years at Fairfield before John moved into a position with the Department of Health Laboratory in Macquarie Street. His health had been poor for some months necessitating regular hours and a somewhat quieter life.

John soon felt the call to clinical work again and accepted a position at Lidcombe Hospital where he became deputy to George Procopis (qv) the Hospital's widely known and respected medical superintendent. During his seven years at Lidcombe he became deeply involved with work on the medical wards and took the MRACP in 1954. By this time he and Pat had five young children and the clear need to plan for their future.

In 1957 he became physician to the Yallourn Hospital and Health Society and partner in a large group practice nearby at Morwell. He always said this period gave him the greatest training in all round medical skills in his professional life. The family returned to Sydney in 1966 when John secured an appointment as senior specialist physician at Rydalmere Psychiatric Hospital and the Parramatta Psychiatric Centre. He accepted an appointment as medical superintendent of Randwick Chest Hospital in 1972. They were very happy at Randwick living in a comfortable old house in the grounds of the Hospital. John retired from full time work on medical grounds in 1979. His failing health then would only allow some sessional attendance with the Department of Health in Canberra.

John Murphy was a quiet thoughtful man with warm hearted good humour and a compassionate manner. He was truly of the 'older school of general physicians'. His death caused sorrow amongst a wide circle of friends and ex-patients from all over New South Wales, Victoria, as well as in Canberra. A large crowd attended his funeral in Canberra on 25 October 1988. John is survived by his widow Patricia who lives in Canberra and their five children, Dennis, Terry, Kathleen, Philip, and Elaine. Terry continues the medical tradition and is a surgeon commander RAN based on Navy HQ Canberra.