About Kay
Kay's background
Katharine Loretta Murphy was born in Milestone, Saskatchewan, Canada a very small town on the windswept prairie about an hour south of the capital, Regina. It was hot in the summer, biting cold in the winter and had a big wide open sky ,and flat farmland stretching as far as the eye could see. It was about as far from the Big City as a young girl could imagine. Her mother had a subscription to National Geographic and it described a much wider world. One article in particular caught her imagination - it described life living on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. Kay was captivated, the future spoke to her loudly, and she paid heed. Their traditional house was on the edge of town. Train tracks ran by the back of the house at the end of the long backyard, Those trains were going somewhere and Kay before too long would soon be on one. Her parents John Henry Murphy, "JH" as he was known, and mother Elsie Elizabeth (Berry) Murphy had three children, John, Katharine ("Kay") and Bernard ("Benny") in that order. Her parents were born in Minnesota
She attended the local grade and high school which she graduated at 17 and promptly went off to college and attended St Catherine's College in St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science , majoring in Nutrition and a minoring in Art, Kay moved to Battle Creek, Michigan to do her Masters Degree in Nutrition. She completed her residency in Detroit in a hospital in a rough and tumble area appropriately nicknamed 'Hell's Half Acre. ' It was not uncommon to victims of knife fights to be wheeled in to the emergency room to have their wounds treated. She shortly thereafter hopped a train and headed west to San Francisco finally arriving at the city of her dreams. She stepped ashore from the ferry from Oakland , and was home. Kay has been joyously San Franciscan since 1942, living her last 60 years in the Cow Hollow neighborhood. She was the proud, supportive and loving mother of Greg (Deborah), Brian, Mark (Rita) and Terence O’Flynn, and grandmother of Chelsea and Riley O'Flynn.
Who Kay was
A true and inspired original, Kay touched the lives and hearts of many during her rich time on earth. She responded with a hearty “Yes!” to the call of her Life’s Adventure, embracing life with an open heart, open mind and forever positive attitude and outlook. Kay was adventurous, artistic, free spirited, stylish, generous, loving, supportive and kind. An inspired mother , entrepeneur, artist, writer, world traveler, journalist , leader, career woman, media personality, business owner, she was a pioneer visionary ahead of her time. Blessed with a unique poetic perspective on life born from a rich inner vision and imagination, she loved and was inspired by the beauty she found in the world and the people within it. Kay was simply a creative force.
Things Kay loved
family
independence and freedom
creativity
exploring / enjoying san francisco
world travel
good food and fine wine
arts and music
architecture
different and diverse cultures
beauty in any form
color
interesting people
parties
being where the action was
new experiences and ideas
theatre, opera and the symphony
history
friends