Sister Catherine entered eternal life on October 21. After receiving a teaching certificate for socially and emotionally disturbed children from St. Joseph's University, she became a learning disabilities specialist at the Paoli Development Center
Sister Catherine Murphy, FSP (formerly Sister Margaret Rose), entered eternal life on October 21, 2025.
Sister Catherine was born in Philadelphia to Rose and John Murphy on February 20, 1934. Growing up in a large family with eight siblings, James, John, George, Joseph, Gerald, Mary, Suzanne, and Margaret, taught her how to give and take. No doubt the dinner table was a place to share many stories with lots of laughter and sometimes sadness. During their formative years, the Murphy clan learned so much from their parents and from each other.
It was not until a friend asked Catherine to accompany her on a visit to Mount St. Francis, located in Peekskill, that she met the Franciscan Sisters for the first time. It was that experience that drew her to religious life. In September 1954, not too long after making a retreat to discern her vocation, she entered the Franciscan community.
Professed in 1956, Sister Catherine ministered as a child care worker at St. Joseph's Home in Peekskill and later at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Home in the Bronx. Ladycliff College in Highland Falls prepared her for her teaching career.
During those early ministerial years, Sister Catherine was an elementary school teacher in several parish schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Teaching was her forte! After receiving a teaching certificate for socially and emotionally disturbed children from St. Joseph's University, she became a learning disabilities specialist at the Paoli Development Center. Through this experience, she felt very much drawn to helping wayward youth and spent the next several years at Paoli Development Center and later at Northern Home for Children, both in Philadelphia. She desired to be a positive influence on the lives of these boys, one who helped them to complete their education successfully. For her, this ministry felt comfortable. She felt it was where God wanted her to be, guiding these young boys, helping to prevent them from going astray. However, she always felt that she received much more than she was able to give. The blessings were many!
In later years, after her mother died, she moved to New Jersey and provided social services to the residents of New Community in Newark, a place that provided much support to those on the margins of society. For her, working among the poor was also a meaningful ministry. This was followed by ministering as a tutor in St. Martin de Porres Village in Paterson, New Jersey, a ministry that placed her back in the midst of children, one of her favorite places. In her later years, she volunteered at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, a place that supports immigrant women and their children in a safe environment.
After many years of service, especially to youth, Sister Catherine retired from active ministry and lived at Marian Woods, an independent, intercommunity residence for religious sisters located in Hartsdale, New York. This provided her with the gift of time to spend with all of God's creation, time to contemplate the many blessings received during her 70-plus years as a Franciscan Sister.
After a lifetime of ministry, Sister Catherine became ill and recently transitioned to St. Cabrini Nursing Home, where she was cared for by the healthcare staff there, along with Hospice of Westchester. She died peacefully on October 21, 2025, no doubt hearing her Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
She is survived by her brother, George Murphy, and sister, Margaret Higgins, as well as several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, along with her Franciscan Sisters of Peace community.
Funeral services will be held at Marian Woods Chapel on Monday, October 27, 2025, to celebrate her life, beginning at 9 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m.
Interment will take place at St. Mary's Cemetery in Yonkers following the services.