CWA Mourns Joseph Murphy, Retired Assistant to VP

Joseph E. Murphy, 80, a retired assistant to the vice president of the former CWA District 8, died May 19, following a brief bout with cancer.

Harvey Hoffman, a retired CWA representative who knew him, said Murphy is fondly remembered as a mentor to countless stewards at Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph in Colorado and Wyoming.

Murphy joined CWA when he went to work for Mountain Bell in Santa Fe after a stint in the Navy during World War II. He served on the union's statewide grievance committee in 1950 and 1951 and worked briefly as a full-time organizer for the union's Arizona-New Mexico District before joining the staff there as a CWA representative.

From 1955, he served in a variety of staff positions in the Denver office until, in 1971, he was promoted to administrative assistant by John Carroll, vice president of District 8, now part of District 7. The following year he was named assistant by district Vice President Edmond Bishop and served in that position until 1977. The final three years of his career were spent as a CWA representative in the Englewood, Colo., office.

He is survived by two nephews, Dennis and Lester Patty of Santa Fe, and a niece, Carolyn Lexa of Kemah, Texas.