NEW YORK, NY
Girl Driver Gets Trophies, Not Tickets, for Speeding
Betty Joan Murphy (Ellis), 95, passed away on August 3rd in New York City. She was born on August 30th, 1928, in Rockford, Illinois, to Betty Marion Hubbell and Howard Deshone Ellis. Shortly after her birth, they moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, and when she was about 3 years old, they moved again, this time to Greenfield, in order to re-open the Why Not Theater. That theater would later become the Riley Theater.
Joan was a graduate of Greenfield High School and a lifeguard at the Riley Park Pool. She worked at Little America on Keystone and at the Jaguar Room on Meridian Street in Indianapolis for Jack Ensley. One of the best times of her life was when she raced sports cars with Jack and attended the Pan American Road Race. Joan married John Murphy and had three kids. After some years as a housewife, she got a job with the post office, driving a rural route. When her husband went to sell cars at Inskeep’s, she ran Murphy’s Mobil on Main Street with the help of Jerry Frazier. She switched careers later in life to become a front desk clerk at the Knights Inn South and the Knights Inn East. She would then move to New York after the birth of her grandson but would still often go back to help out at the Knights Inn East, where the owners and she had essentially become family.
As a young woman, she performed in the Victory Vanities in 1944 and at her Junior Class Convocation in 1947. She was a member of the Psi Iota Xi Sorority Upsilon Chapter, the American Legions Women’s Auxiliary, and the Elks Club.
Joan was also a volunteer for many years at PS 122Q in Astoria. She loved the children there and always looked forward to the first day of school. Joan Murphy Ellis was one-of-a-kind: a fast driver, a great advisor, a talker, a good listener, and she had guts. She leaves behind in New York a daughter, Judy Milo (Murphy), and a grandson, Lucas Andrew Thomas. In Greenfield, she leaves behind her grandson, Derrick Murphy, and a granddaughter, Taylor Pate (Murphy). She also leaves behind three great-grandchildren, Lincoln, Jace, and Isla, and a daughter-in-law, Michelle Murphy.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John Paul Murphy, and her sons, John Paul Murphy II and Jason Howard Murphy. Also passing before her was her son-in-law, Frank Milo.
Family and friends would like to acknowledge June and Dee who helped make her last years truly amazing. Emaw really did have a wonderful life. We will miss her.
