Hudson – Following a fulfilled life and a difficult journey with dementia, Wilma Murphy passed away on February 4, 2023, at the age of 91. She is now at peace and resting with the Lord. Our family is grateful that Wilma’s pain and suffering has ended, but we are filled with deep sadness that we will no longer see her smile or hear her laughter. A lifetime of memories will comfort us during this time. With love, we say goodbye to Wilma, our loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend.
Wilma’s world revolved around her beloved family throughout her entire life. She was blessed with a wonderful relationship with her parents, Violet and Frank Kohne, her siblings Frank Kohne and Mable (Kohne) Hull and her many cousins, nieces and nephews. Wilma talked of them fondly even as her memories began to blur. With her first husband of 27 years, Paul Vollmer, Wilma cherished raising their three girls, Elizabeth Baker and her husband Scott, Karen Meek and her husband Roger, and Lee McColley and her husband Robert. After Paul’s passing, Wilma met Bruce Murphy (on a blind date!) and shared a loving and devoted 41 years of marriage, extending her family to embrace his children, Donna Van Der Horn and her husband Dave , Diane Dougherty and her husband Frank, and James Murphy and his wife Dawn.
Wilma’s 15 grandchildren; Robert McColley, Keegan McColley, Brett Baker, Justin McColley, Eric Van Der Horn, Brian Baker, Max Meek, Kelsey Bautista, Jennifer Maynes, Caitlyn Murphy, Sarah Duffy, Shea Murphy, Julia Dougherty, Zach Murphy, Grayson Murphy and 17 great-grandchildren were her moon and her stars. Wilma made every effort to spend as much time as possible with her grandchildren, which truly wasn’t easy. She could regularly be found traversing the country to share holidays and special occasions with the family she loved so dearly. Over the decades, these shared moments brought immense joy to both Wilma and her grandchildren.
All would agree that Wilma’s greatest skill in life was connecting with those around her. She was renowned for her kind heart, bright smile and generous spirit. Whether you were a family member or friend welcomed into her home with a warm embrace and warmer bowl of soup, a child in her classroom feeling her loving energy, or a duck in the pond benefitting from the specially saved bread crumbs; anyone who crossed her path felt the joy of knowing Wilma. Always the devoted teacher, Wilma couldn’t resist a teaching moment with a grammatical correction. Sometimes we threw in a “lie” or “lay” where it didn’t’ belong just for the fun of it!
Wilma spent her life in the service of others. Throughout her years as an elementary and preschool teacher in New York, Texas, and Connecticut; Wilma devoted her energy to caring for and educating countless children. Wilma could not sit idly in retirement and continued her love for service as she volunteered for many years as an after-school tutor at the St. Gregory the Great School in Bluffton, SC. She spent over 30 years of tireless work with the Guilford Lions Clubs, Guildford, CT and Sun City Lions Club, SC. It didn’t matter if the volunteer work had her cleaning garbage from the side of the road, picking weeds, or running food stands at golf tournaments or the town fair; Wilma was proud of her contributions to her community and greeted every person with a glow that made people happy to be around her. The Lions honored Wilma for her service with the Melvin Jones Award for dedicated humanitarian services from the Lions Clubs International Foundation.
We thank you Wilma, Wil, Mom, Grandma, Grammy, and Great-Grandma for loving us, for bringing us joy and laughter. We love you cheering for us to succeed, celebrating our special moments large and small, and for shaping us into the people we are today in ways we never could have imagined. We could not be more grateful. We love you – your energy and light will be forever missed.
A Funeral Mass will be Celebrated on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 11 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church, 11 Prospect St., Marlborough, MA. To watch the Funeral Mass live, please visit, www.icmarlboro.org.
Burial will be at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Wilma’s name to, www.lionsclub.org.
The Short & Rowe Funeral Home of Marlborough assisted with arrangements.
