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Mary Ella Harvey Murphy was born on March 24th, 1923 to Frank and Emma Harvey. They were part of the farming community in Thatcher, Arizona. Mary Ella was the fourth child born. She followed Floyd, Retha and Weldon, and then her younger brothers were Franklin who died at birth and Robert and Billy. She survived all her siblings. Mary Ella was 6 years old when her Mother died. While only 6, she writes fondly of the many memories she had of her Mother. First and foremost was baking bread, and also honesty and endurance. When Mary Ella was about 5, her family packed up in a Model T Ford touring car and drove to California, her Dad traded cars 5 times before they got to Santa Maria, CA. He traded the car each time he was out of gas for a car with a full tank. After her mother died, her Dad remarried and they moved back to Arizona.

Mary Ella saw many changes in her life, indoor bathrooms, an ice box, and a telephone to name a few.

On September 3, 1941 she married Borden Murphy at the old courthouse in Phoenix. To celebrate they went to lunch and a movie. In their first years together, they would spend evenings on top of the Gillespie Dam watching birds and animals that made the small lake their home. They settled in Arlington, Arizona to raise their own family. On July 22, 1942 the first of four daughters was born. Sharon followed by Darla, Deborah, and then Lynn in 1948.

During the early years of raising her young girls, she ran the Arlington General store, and was the post mistress for a time as well. Later she worked at the Arlington Cattle Company as the Book Keeper, Receptionist, Office manager, and even the Weigh Master at the Scale house. Along with working full time, being a full time mother and homemaker, one of the activities she was most passionate about were the young mens and young womens road shows. She is very fondly remembered by hundreds of Church youth for the shows she wrote, directed, and made costumes for, throughout the years.

Later in her life after her girls had grown and married, she enjoyed her grandchildren immensely and her great grand children as they came along. She was even fortunate enough to have a great great grand daughter. More recently she was up in Idaho caring for her younger brother until his death. After he passed away, she moved back to Arizona in 2013 where she continued to be active in the lives of her children and grand children.

Mary Ella Murphy lived an amazing life and all of us who had the privilege to know and love and learn from her will be forever grateful. She is survived by her two youngest daughters, Deborah De La Pena and J Lynn Brooks.