Many high school students prefer to keep a safe distance from their principal.
When Linda Murphy ran Morristown High School, the diploma line was a hug-fest.
Valedictorians. Wrestlers. Musicians. Black. White. Brown. The embraces were diverse, and spontaneous.
Murphy, 67, who died on Election Day at Morristown Medical Center from an undisclosed, recurring illness, is being remembered with that same warmth by those who knew her as a math teacher, a principal, an official at the Morristown Neighborhood House, or a congregation member at Calvary Baptist Church.
Many said they remain stunned by her passing.
“I am numb right now,” said Sandra King, who played for Murphy on the Morristown High School girls junior varsity basketball team. King’s three kids later came to know Murphy as their principal–Morristown High’s first African American and first woman to attain that position, according to friends at Calvary.
Murphy was more than a hoops coach to King. She was a “mother figure … who wanted to see us do better in life.”
During basketball off-seasons, Murphy prodded King to stay active playing soccer or field hockey. (She would play both).
“If she knew you could do better, she would be that person to push you to your limits,” King said.
There was a softer side, too.
“She was nurturing, the kind of person if you needed an ear, she was there. If you needed help, she would offer up her home, would offer food. She was basically at your beck and call,” King said.
“People who needed help, they could always go to Linda,” echoed Samaria Tillman, a Calvary associate minister and director of church operations who has known Murphy for 30 years.
“I call her a ‘foundational person,'” the minister said. “She was like that with her family, with her church, and with the Morristown community. We’re going to really, really miss her. Her presence was universal.”
‘A TRUE JEWEL’
After years in the classroom, Murphy served as a vice principal, and then as MHS principal from 2005 to 2012. She spent one more year as the Morris School District’s director of human resources and community engagement, a job created for her after a marathon school board meeting that drew a huge audience to protest her transfer from the high school.
Many in the community at the time felt Murphy’s transfer was in response to the suicide of a freshman who had been bullied. The board denied that, while declining to explain the personnel move.
Murphy only would say that her new position enabled her to pursue her goal as an educator: To make every school in the District “a place where all children can succeed in an environment where they are treated with dignity, respect and tolerance.”
“Linda was a true jewel and one of Morristown’s greatest,” said Leonard Posey, a board member during Murphy’s tenure. “She was kind, and a true and committed friend to tons of people. ”
Murphy never mentioned she was ailing when they last spoke a few months ago, Posey said.
“I considered her a friend and will miss her,” he said.
For the last eight years, until this summer, Murphy worked as director of community development for Cornerstone Family Programs and the Morristown Neighborhood House.
“We are heartbroken about the loss of Linda, who was well-loved by staff, children, families and our community,” said Cornerstone CEO Patrice Picard.
“Linda’s generosity of spirit drew people to her and allowed her to be an effective leader, mentor, and advocate in our community. It was a true honor and privilege to get to know Linda,” Picard said.
During the pandemic, Murphy volunteered at Calvary’s Free Lunch Friday, a program that has provided more than 30,000 meals to people in need since April 2020, said Tillman.
Oprah, Gaga and Harry: Video of Linda Murphy addressing MHS Class of ’11:
‘FIRM BUT FAIR’
Born in Greenville, N.C., Murphy came to Morristown at age 5. Donna Howard was her classmate at Morristown High.
“Everybody loved her,” Howard said. “She was a good girl, compared to me! I was the one in the principal’s office all the time. She would do anything for anybody.”
Tim McDade is director of technology for the Morris School District. When he attended Morristown High, Murphy was his math teacher.
She was “firm but fair,” McDade said. “She expected a great deal of her students, everyone.”
Murphy never married or had kids of her own. “But she had a lot of children,” Tillman said, noting all the young people she mentored
In a 2011 commencement address, Murphy extolled Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and the late baseball coach Harry Shatel as role models, and told MHS grads:
“It is my hope that you are proud of who you are, regardless of your background, race, religion, sexual orientation or abilities… Your beauty and worth is not dependent on what others want it to be. You were born with an identity, talents and gifts. Celebrate them.”
Sandra King last saw Linda Murphy at Calvary, a week before her death. King inquired about Murphy’s brother’s health.
Murphy asked for clarification.
“Who are you asking about, myself of my brother?” she said.
King missed the hint.
That day at church, they greeted each other as they always did: With a kiss…and a hug.
Linda Murphy is survived by a brother, Edward Murphy of Morristown, and a niece, Carolyn Murphy. A wake is scheduled for this Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, from 3 pm to 7 pm at Calvary Baptist Church, 10 Martin Luther King Ave., Morristown. A 10 a.m. viewing is set for Monday, Nov. 15, at the church, followed by a funeral service at 11 am.
This article has been updated with additional information from Calvary Baptist Church.
