Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Murphy to be feted at annual spring tea

Submitted to El Defensor Chieftain By Valerie Kimble

Leo Murphy, the lion-hearted woman with the Celtic surname, will be honored at the "Luck of the Irish" fifth annual Spring Tea and silent auction.

The Socorro General Hospital Spring Tea Committee will host the event on Sunday, March 15, 2-5 p.m., at the Best Western conference center.

Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at the hospital gift shop, or by calling Lorraine Archuleta at 575-835-2637 or Norma Lorang at 575-838-0058.

Proceeds will help to provide maintenance support for the hospital's Healing Garden, which is located behind the hospital.

Murphy, a member of the hospital Auxiliary and a staple at the Owl Bar for more than four decades, will be recognized for her service to the hospital, its staff and patients.

"I don't know why I'm getting this," said the honoree last week. "I guess because my last name's Murphy. I wonder how you say 'Murphy' in Spanish?"

Ironically, one online source for the surname, which means "strong" or "superior" in Gaelic, traces its origins to Spain, home to some of Leo's early ancestors. The Murphy family motto is linked to hospitality, and Leo certainly fits the bill. She was christened Leonela by her parents, the third or fourth generation of Armijos to settle in the old farming community of San Antonio, N.M.

The family eventually moved to Socorro and Leo, the name by which she has always been known, graduated with the Socorro High School Class of 1959.

"We'll have our 50th reunion this summer," said Murphy, who then pauses. "I guess that's telling my age."

And so she does: The woman whose leonine nature has made her friends up and down the valley and beyond, says she turned 69 in January, and will celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary to her husband, Donald Murphy, on March 21.

Leo went to work at the Owl Bar shortly after her graduation, and it was there she met Don, a Louisiana native working as a civilian employee for RCA at Stallion Site on White Sands Missile Range.

Leo was a member of the Young Republicans of Socorro County, and asked Murphy to join the organization.

"He said he would, if I would go out with him, and I said yes," Leo recalled, adding that she didn't really take the offer seriously.

Murphy did join the group, but waited several months before he asked Leo for a formal date — and it was a big one.

"We went to the Firemen's Ball, which was a big deal back then," she said. "You buy a dress and get your hair done ... we had a good time, and then later we got married."

Some of Leo's regular customers at the Owl laid bets that the marriage wouldn't last.

"Some people gave us six months, some a year, others two years," she said with a laugh. "They were all dollar bets, and I collected quite a few."

"He's a good man," said Leo of her husband, adding that Don is very supportive of her efforts.

He would have to be, because Leo is one busy woman.

Leo joined the hospital auxiliary, at the urging of Frances Senn in 1991, the same year the Murphys' daughter, Mercedes, graduated from high school. (Mercedes Murphy is now an assistant district attorney with the Sierra County office of the 7th Judicial District..)

Murphy served as auxiliary president for four years, and was the state secretary for the district arm of the Auxiliary in 1999.

Auxiliary presidents automatically have a seat on the hospital's board of directors; Murphy was also elected to the board outright and spent an additional seven years there. She retired from the board in 2007 "to make room for someone younger."

In 1998 and 2002, Leo was the chairwoman for the district board of the auxiliary, which was comprised of Presbyterian-affiliated hospitals in Alamogordo, Deming, Las Cruces, Sierra County, Silver City and Socorro.

Only five years into her service as an auxilian, Murphy was given the district's 1996-1997 Auxilian Recognition Award for "contributing boundless energy and enthusiasm to our group, accomplishing a great deal in a short time."

Leo was described as "a giver, artistic, creative, caring and does anything that needs to be done."

That description still fits a dozen years later.

"The committee wants to honor Leo for all her years of work for Socorro General Hospital, from her work in the gift shop to helping out with every one of the Spring Teas," said Archuleta, Spring Tea committee chairwoman and the afternoon's hostess.

Leo is also known as a gifted crafter, and her work will be on display at the Spring Tea in the form of a dozen or so gift baskets among 30-plus items included in the silent auction.

"I make small ones, to start off the bidding," she said. Larger baskets and other items also are among the offerings.

Under the direction of SGH board member Mary Gillard, volunteers will gather in the hospital kitchen on Saturday to prepare an array of delicacies for the tea. Gillard also provides the fresh flowers for table centerpieces that complement the colorful tea sets at each table, as will Minnie Torres, who will also share her many talents of flower arranging.

The event is an opportunity to dress up in one's Sunday best; a few of the women wear spring hats — gloves are optional.

"The first year, there were no men — people thought it was a women's thing," Murphy said. "A couple of husbands came the second year; now, it's almost balanced between the men and women, and more children are attending as well."

Sunday's event will be the third for SGH administrator Bo Beames, who is expected to make a special presentation on behalf of Murphy, in the company of his wife and two young daughters.

It's Leo's job to keep track of all donations as well as who bought what. Pete Gonzales will return to play guitar and Valerie Kimble also returns as emcee.

Remember those Young Republicans, the organization Leo invited Don to join? Well, many of the women members of the group outgrew their eligibility and morphed into the Federation of Republican Women, Leo among them.

But one thing that hasn't changed over time is the commitment and dedication of volunteers, like Leo and her fellow auxilians and hospital board members, to offer patients at Socorro General Hospital the best health care possible.

There's another side to that story.

"The best part for me is meeting people and just being there to listen. I'm not there to give an opinion or start talking — I'm there to listen to the families of the patients, and hope they feel better when they leave.

"Being able to help the hospital and its people, that's what it's all about," she said.

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