TOWAMENCIN – Carolyn Murphy loved watching North Penn football games, but in the world of education outside of Crawford Stadium, she was rarely ever just a spectator.

For parts of four decades, from 1981- 2016, Murphy devoted her life to service in the North Penn School District. Known by generations of students as Frau Murphy, she taught German in the North Penn Middle Schools and High School from 1981-2008, but her retirement from teaching was far from the end of her life in education. Three years later she was elected to the North Penn School Board and then re-elected in 2015, a seat at the table she occupied as recently as last Monday’s school board reorganization meeting. Murphy had been in failing health, and passed away on Saturday, December 10^th at the age of 71.

“Carolyn was one tough cookie and always a get-up-and-go kind of person. I loved her energy and passion toward her teaching and students. She was an enthusiastic teacher who truly cared about her students in a very special way…perhaps no other teacher can imitate,” said Nori Coyle, Japanese teacher at North Penn High School.

Through her work on the school board, Murphy chaired the Safe Schools Committee and was a member of the Education and Community Policy Committee. Her term was not set to expire until 2019.  Long before she was voting on school district policies, Murphy was in the trenches of public education in roles as parent, teacher, and community member.

She graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in German and from West Chester with a MA.EQ. in linguistics. She taught German in Illinois and Colorado, and for 28 years in the North Penn School District. She served on the international Friendship Committee since 1992 and was an Exchange Student Advisor at NPHS until 2005.

Public education has long been central to Murphy’s life. Over the last 40 years, in addition to her classroom teaching career, she served as Home and School President, Long-Range Planning Member, Middle States Team Member, NPAGE Officer, Exchange Student Advisor, and perhaps her proudest accomplishment was that she was a North Penn parent. Murphy also rarely missed a North Penn Knights football game and excitedly watched on this season as the Knights captured another District 1 title.

North Penn School District superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich saw in Murphy, not just her contributions to the academic community but also the qualities that made her so beloved to so many people around the community.

“Mrs. Murphy was an ardent supporter of public education. She enthusiastically supported our teachers and administrators. She always wanted everyone to do whatever was the right thing to do. She had a personal charm which could win over anyone. I will miss her dearly,” expressed Dietrich.

While Murphy spent plenty of time in the public eye working on behalf of public education, it was indeed her persona and disposition that those closest to her hold most dearly.

“Everything she saw or read was the greatest show, movie, or book on earth – it was her signature communicative style that we all adored.  I miss the way she would get mad and scolded with her eyes squinting…but she continued to be positive and had a virtuous attitude,” Coyle reflected.

For Murphy, her dedication to public education throughout her life stemmed from her beliefs about the value of public schools and the importance of continuing to make them better.

In an interview with The Knight Crier, prior to the 2015 school board election, Murphy said, “My first term confirmed and strengthened my belief in public education. Public education is my passion and I am proud to have shared that passion with the North Penn School District in many ways over the last 40 years.”

She also added, “I enjoy looking at problems and finding ways to make things work. Excellence does not just happen. It is planned for, monitored and adjusted, creatively thought out, and then thought about again.”

Invariably, a teaching career of nearly 30 years in the same district enables one’s legacy to be wide and vast. In some cases, people were able to know Murphy not only as a colleague but also as a teacher.

“I remember her when I was a student, feeling like she really got to know me personally and care for me as more than just a name on her roster. Then as a German Club board member she was extremely determined to have things run right, but run by the students and I feel that was something that I was able to take away from my time working with her back then,” said Andy Baker, a North Penn graduate and now a German teacher at North Penn High School.

“Working with her on the IF Committee, I saw the true passion she had for the students- that they would be safe, that they would learn, and that they would have all of the opportunities open to them,” Baker added.

Murphy influenced people of many generations around the North Penn community. In some cases it was her recent foray into politics that forged new relationships, and in some cases it was students and colleague of years past. When her own students channel their educational experiences with her into their own teaching careers, Murphy’s legacy in the community becomes tangible.

“I know that the best of what I strive to do inside and outside of the classroom for my students is inspired by her example and drive to give students as much opportunity as I can. The language might be how I meet the students, but that’s only part of my role and The Frau helped to show me what teaching really can and should be,” Baker explained.

Murphy is survived by her son and daughter-in-law and her three grandsons, who reside in Oakton, VA. Carolyn’s husband Paul preceded her in death in 2013. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 17th at 11am at Gwynedd Square Presbyterian Church, 837 Sumneytown Pike, Lansdale.

NPHS FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPT COLLEAGUES FONDLY REMEMBER STORIES OF CAROLYN MURPHY’S  TEACHING CAREER:

When she was moving to NPHS, she packed up all of her materials (maps,pics, posters, files, etc) to be moved and she put the boxes next to the trash can.  The janitor mistook everything for trash and threw them away. The next morning, after she realized what had happened (and after she went crazy) she actually climbed into the dumpster to find her stuff.  Conflicting reports on if she was successful in getting her stuff back!

She is the reason that our tornado drills take place and take place downstairs – being from the Midwest, she hated that we were upstairs for tornado drills and hounded Principal Burt Hynes until he changed the format.

Nancy Detwiler remembers walking into her room on a day when she was teaching swimming vocab – Carolyn was walking around the room in flippers on her feet and goggles on and the scuba breathing tube coming out the top.