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Sharing God’s loving kindness

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Sr Deirdre Murphy rsm (born September 13 1936, died August 29 2024) <br />

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Sister Deirdre Murphy, known affectionately in her family as ‘Deed’, was born in Mount Barker, the first child of Eileen and Edward (known as Ted).

She was a ‘centenary baby’ being born 100 years after the founding of South Australia.

Deirdre was delighted to welcome her sister Loretta and brother Brian into the family.

She began her education in Mount Barker at St Scholastica’s School, established by the Broken Hill Sisters of Mercy of the Wilcannia-Forbes Congregation. In her time at St Scholastica’s, the seeds of her Mercy vocation were planted.

Her parents were great supporters of the Sisters and by the time she had completed primary school Deirdre had thought about becoming a Mercy Sister.

“I was particularly impressed by the spirit of joy I could see in one young teacher on the staff, Sister Mary Alexius (later Sister Sheila Crowley),” she once said.

A family move to Myrtle Bank in Adelaide in the early 1950s resulted in Deirdre attending Cabra Dominican College on Cross Road. Later, when the family moved to Jamestown to run a hotel, Deirdre completed her education at Cabra as a boarder.

Having gained her Teachers’ College qualification, Deirdre taught at the Mount Compass Area School. Later she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and taught at Unley High School.

By the age of 24 she became increasingly aware of a deep stirring to become a Religious Sister. Deirdre decided to approach the Dominicans, however when she went to their convent to make her enquiry she encountered a locked gate, which she saw as a sign that this was not the right path for her.

Instead, she decided to approach the Sisters of Mercy who had taught her in primary school. She wrote to the Mother Superior and in 1961 was accepted into the Novitiate of the Wilcannia-Forbes Congregation in Parkes. Deirdre was professed as a Sister of Mercy in January 1964. In January this year she celebrated her diamond jubilee of profession.

The charism of the Sisters of Mercy is: ‘to know God’s loving kindness and share it with others’. For Deirdre, her sharing of this charism was mainly through the ministry of education. After her profession she went to St Joseph’s High School, Broken Hill, a Mercy school for girls, where she taught geography, history and religious education. Later the school combined with the Marist Brothers School and she found she “had a few things to learn when teaching boys”!

After 25 years in Broken Hill, Deirdre was appointed to the Mercy mission in Papua New Guinea, where she worked in Kondiu.

After her return from PNG, she completed a librarianship diploma and became the librarian at St Joseph’s Broken Hill, Mary Immaculate Mercy College in Fitzroy, Victoria, and Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta, NSW.

Teaching English to migrants, both adult and school-age children, became part of her later life. She worked with the Parramatta Sisters teaching English to migrants at Campsie from 1998 to 2006.

Deirdre’s appointments in NSW, Victoria and PNG brought her into contact with Mercy Sisters from a number of different congregations. She said her appreciation of Mercy life expanded as she bonded with Sisters across the congregations and shared ministry with them.

Deirdre’s spiritual life was nourished by the opportunity to do a retreat on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, and to encounter the Christian Life Community, a lay organisation which brings people together to pray, share and discern where God is working in their lives. She established Christian Life Communities in Broken Hill and Epping.

A ‘highly significant’ event for Deirdre was her pilgrimage to Ireland and England where she was able to ‘walk with Catherine’ (Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy) in Dublin and Birmingham.

After almost 50 years of Mercy life and ministry, Deirdre was grateful, in her retirement, to return to her home territory of Adelaide.

Her family members were delighted and grateful that Deed was once again living close to them. From the late 1960s she had holidayed each Christmas with her siblings and their families: Loretta and Peter and their daughters Angela, Helen and Susan; and Brian and Fiona and their children, Liam and Alicia.

She was always delighted to be part of the life of her siblings and their families. Now she was home in SA, with time to deepen bonds with family. She loved them all and was thrilled with the arrival of grand-nieces and grand-nephews. And they all loved her.

They summed up their feelings with the words: ‘Whenever we think of Auntie Deed, we recall her warm and caring presence. She would give us her full attention and love whenever we spent time together. Auntie Deed always made one feel special and important to her. She would frequently make us laugh with her wit and humour. She will be missed and always be present in our hearts.’

Deirdre died peacefully at Southern Cross Care’s The Pines, having been beautifully cared for there and lovingly supported by her birth family and Mercy family.

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