A Leg Up For The Disabled

Newcastle Herald

Monday January 14, 2008

Ben Smee

OBITUARY

JILL DIANE MURPHY

Born: October 10, 1945

Died: December 21, 2007

Funeral: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Hamilton, December 28

WHEN Jill Murphy was made an officer of the Order of Australia for services to Riding for the Disabled in 2006, she described herself as "but a spoke in the wheel".

But Mrs Murphy was far from an ordinary volunteer.

She spent more than 20 years teaching disabled children to ride horses, revelling in the friendship of the children, their parents and other volunteers.

"It's hard but lovely work with the children," Mrs Murphy told The Herald in 2006.

"When you get a child out of their wheelchair and up on a horse, for the first time in their lives they are at eye level, their reaction is just amazing."

Mrs Murphy endured a difficult and at times lonely upbringing, but the experiences she endured helped shape the generous and loving person she would become.

Born on October 10, 1945, at Belmont, Mrs Murphy was one of Joyce and Evan McLean's seven children.

Growing up, she experienced a number of hardships and was frequently separated from her mother and siblings.

She attended school at Pelican until the age of seven, when she went to live at Ellimatta Girls Home at East Maitland because of difficult times within the family.

Her time away from family at Ellimatta was lonely, but only lasted a short time before she was sent to Gurley, near Moree, where her mother was stationed at the Gurley sheep station.

Less than a year later, Mrs Murphy moved to a girls' home at Grafton, where she joined two of her sisters.

Eventually, after Mrs Murphy had spent about a year in Grafton, Joyce McLean had saved enough money to reunite the family, and they moved to Mayfield, where Joyce began work with the Young Women's Christian Association.

During the family's four years at Mayfield, Mrs Murphy met her husband to be, Gerard. They were married in March 1965 and spent 43 happy years together.

Together, Mr and Mrs Murphy made a formidable team building a successful plumbing business and raising three sons, Andrew, Mark and Michael. The family lived at Tighes Hill, Hamilton and Dudley.

One of Mrs Murphy's great passions was her family, drawing on her own experiences during childhood and working hard to provide a stable life for her husband and children.

The other passion in her life was teaching children at the Riding for the Disabled centre.

Her devotion to her work led to her being nominated as an officer of the Order of Australia in 2006.

In typical modest fashion, she accepted the award on behalf of her Tuesday riding class.

Mrs Murphy lived with breast cancer for more than six years, after first being diagnosed in October, 2001, while she was recovering from knee replacement surgery.

In 2006, when she was made an officer of the Order of Australia, she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment and had lost her hair a week before the medal presentation ceremony.

Mr Murphy's family went to great lengths to make the day special, hiring a limousine to chauffeur her to and from events and hosting a dinner in her honour at Circular Quay.

She would describe the day as the best of her life.

Mrs Murphy was a renowned larrikin and practical joker, but a dedicated worker who gave her time to school tuckshops, riding camps and events, as well as her family.

She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Gerard, and three sons, Andrew, Mark and Michael.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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