Adele Ott Murphy, 93, senior activist and World War II Navy nurse died July 11, 2008, in Los Angeles,. The longtime Santa Monica resident and Red Cross Humanitarian Award recipient’s “keep smiling” motto inspired many.
Although she spent her final days in quiet retirement, the cheery, inveterate navy nurse earned more accolades after middle age than before.
Actively working to improve roles of women in the military and seniors in need of health care, Murphy appeared on national television in “Woman to Woman” segments of “Sex Over Sixty” and “The Aging Poor”, as well as a ‘20/20” segment with Milton Berle, and the documentary, “Be Well In Your Later Years”, Born on November 16, 1914, Murphy earned her nursing degree in 1935 at St. Barnabas Hospital, immediately working in Pennsylvania and New York.
In 1943, Murphy enlisted as an ensign in the US Navy, working with wounded Marines in Pearl Harbor and rising to the rank of lieutenant junior grade before leaving in 1945.
Murphy married George C. Murphy, working as nursing supervisor, and head female surgical nurse at Allentown Hospital in Pennsylvania.
In 1968 she began a career as a college nurse at Kutztown State College(now Kutztown State University). In 1973, at the ripe age of 58, Murphy received her BA at East Stroudsburg State College.
Murphy moved to Santa Monica in 1978 to reside close to her surviving daughter, Lois.
Murphy quickly became active representing the local chapter of the Gray Panthers at their national convention in 1979.
Always active, she continued to roller skate, even two miles on Venice Beach for the movement of the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1980.
Volunteering at health fairs, flu vaccine clinics and1984 Olympics,, Murphy also lectured on senior health issues such as arthritis and reflexology throughout Santa Monica. She practiced foot reflexology practice for a decade. In1994, Murphy received a Distinguished Service Award and a lifetime membership at the Santa Monica YMCA for leading gym and aquatic arthritis exercise classes for seniors.
She was presented with a Mayor’s Commendation from the city of Santa Monica for her service to the Red Cross, the American Legion and the citizens of Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2008. Read the original PDF.