093_HR0228

                                     LRB093 11573 HSS 14834 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives  are
 3    pleased  to  recognize significant milestones in the lives of
 4    those distinguished  individuals  who  have  dedicated  their
 5    endeavors to the service of others; and

 6        WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Father William
 7    Patrick  Murphy is celebrating his 60th Jubilee of ordination
 8    to the holy priesthood on May 4, 2003; and

 9        WHEREAS, Born in Chicago on  November  6,  1915,  to  the
10    union  of  William  and Ellen Howley Murphy, Irish immigrants
11    from County  Mayo,  William  Patrick  Murphy  graduated  from
12    Visitation  Grammar  School on Garfield Boulevard in Chicago;
13    and

14        WHEREAS, Grateful for "the formative  education  bestowed
15    by  the  Augustinian  Fathers" at St. Rita High School, young
16    Bill Murphy excelled in sports as well as academics;  he  won
17    the highly contested Gold Medal for Oratory in his junior and
18    senior years at St. Rita High School; and

19        WHEREAS,  William Murphy took special studies at historic
20    Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary while  working  as  a
21    bellhop at the Del Prado Hotel in Hyde Park; and

22        WHEREAS,  After  graduation  from Quigley, William Murphy
23    entered the Major  Seminary  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake  in
24    Mundelein  and  was  ordained  in  1943  by  Samuel  Cardinal
25    Stritch; and

26        WHEREAS, During seven years of the ten years of his first
27    assignment  at  St. Gertrude Parish in Chicago's Rogers Park,
28    Father  Murphy  was  full-time  chairman  of   the   Religion
29    Department  at  Mundelein College for Women on North Sheridan
30    Road, and he  also  taught  religion  at  the  nearby  Loyola
31    University for a time; and
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11573 HSS 14834 r
 1        WHEREAS, Upon returning from studies at Oxford University
 2    in  England,  Father Murphy was assigned to St. Leo Parish on
 3    the south side of Chicago where he served as an assistant  to
 4    Msgr. Patrick Molloy for ten years; and

 5        WHEREAS,  Father Murphy is remembered by countless alumni
 6    as the chaplain at Leo High School from 1955 to 1963 and  Fox
 7    Business College from 1960 to 1963; and

 8        WHEREAS,  From 1963 to 1968, Father Murphy happily served
 9    St. Monica's Parish and later at St. Robert Bellarmine Parish
10    from 1968 to 1973; and

11        WHEREAS, On May 23, 1973, John  Cardinal  Cody  appointed
12    Father  Murphy  to  serve  at  Queen  of  Martyrs  Parish  in
13    Evergreen Park; and

14        WHEREAS,  Coming  to a parish which was $600,000 in debt,
15    Father Murphy was able to lead his parishioners to  wipe  out
16    the obligation and add $200,000 in improvements to the church
17    and school buildings in ten years; and

18        WHEREAS,  He  has been an outspoken advocate for Pro-Life
19    apostolates and a "teacher" of children and adults in  Church
20    history and love and loyalty to the Church; and

21        WHEREAS,  He  has  never lost interest in politics, world
22    affairs, or a good book; and

23        WHEREAS, On November 17, 1985, Father Murphy celebrated a
24    Mass of Thanksgiving at Queen of Martyrs Church to  mark  his
25    retirement and his 70th birthday; and

26        WHEREAS,  After  being  named Pastor Emeritus of Queen of
27    Martyrs by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, he has, for the past 18
28    years, continued to serve subsequent pastors  Father  William
29    Gubbins,  Father Patrick Lyons, and Father Edward Mikolajczyk
30    loyally and with enthusiasm; and
 
                            -3-      LRB093 11573 HSS 14834 r
 1        WHEREAS, Father Murphy, having reached the mellow age  of
 2    87  years,  continues  to  perform  his  priestly ministry to
 3    school children and adult parishioners of  Queen  of  Martyrs
 4    with dedication and eloquence; and

 5        WHEREAS,   Father   Murphy   will  celebrate  a  Mass  of
 6    Thanksgiving at Queen of Martyrs Church on May  4,  2003,  to
 7    commemorate  his  60th  Jubilee  of  ordination  to  the holy
 8    priesthood; therefore, be it

 9        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
10    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11    we congratulate Father Murphy upon  his  60th  Jubilee  as  a
12    priest  of  the Roman Catholic Church, we commend him for his
13    years of devotion to his faith the  people  he  continues  to
14    serve,  and  we  take  this opportunity to wish him many more
15    years of continued health and happiness in the future; and be
16    it further

17        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
18    presented  to  Father  Murphy  as  a formal indication of the
19    respect and admiration we have for him.