Elise May Murphy

Elise May Murphy, surrounded by many cherished beloved ones, celebrated her 93rd birthday on April 11th, with smiles, music, flowers, and pink fingernails. She passed away two days later, April 13, 2012.

Since 1953, Elise made her home in Santa Barbara. Her love of art, beauty, music, and friendship brightened the lives of many here for the last 59 years. She held dear to her heart the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation, her Sangha meditation community, her friends at Rick Stitch’s art class at the Cancer Center and Jill Sattler’s adult education mixed media class.

Her house was a hub of activity for all the family comings and goings. Her four children, Mercy, Janice, Patrice, and Bryan, their spouses, and her 8 grandchildren, have filled her life and she filled ours. On her 93rd birthday, she cradled her 1st great-grand daughter, Melody Grace, in her arms and she “skyped” with her brother and sister-in-law, Charles and Alma Tweedly, who live in Rhode Island.

There will be a memorial at the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, 820 N. Fairview Ave, Goleta, from 1- 3:00 pm, Saturday, May 12.

If you’d like to donate something in memory of Elise, please give to the Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care at www.vnhcsb.org

And finally, she would leave us with the words of her teacher, “Each breath we take, each step we make, each smile we realize, is a positive contribution to peace.” – Thich Nhat Hanh