Elmer Murphy

Dateline: Mount Vernon Elmer R. Murphy, 88 of Mount Vernon, formerly of Waterloo and Anamosa, died Friday, March 11, 2005 at St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids from complications of Parkinson's disease. Services, 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, at Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, Mount Vernon Chapel. Graveside services, 2:30 p.m., Tuesday at the Garden of Memories Cemetery, Waterloo. Friends may call Monday from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, Mount Vernon Chapel. Surviving Elmer is his wife Eleanor of Mount Vernon; their children: Richard (Betty) Olmstead of Cedar Rapids, Allan (Barb) Olmstead of Loveland, Colorado, Vicki Cech of Marion, Kay Wente, of Waterloo, Gloria (Samuel) Capron of Lisbon, Joyce (Pete) Rudish of Mount Vernon, Debbie (Mel) Freese of Spring, Texas, Sandy Vargason of Anamosa, Teresa (Dave) Murray of Marion, David (Dania) Bebber of Bettendorf; a sister Dorothy of Los Angeles, California; twenty-one grandchildren; and twenty-four great grandchildren. Preceding Elmer in death were his parents, ten brothers and sisters, his first wife Alice M "Sally" Bebber Murphy, a great granddaughter Aleah Christine Capron, and a son-in-law Dale Vargason. Elmer was born November 9, 1916 in Des Moines, the son of Logan and Bertha Zeener Murphy. He married Sally Bebber Olmstead in 1937. She died in January of 1976. He married Eleanor Long Bebber, October 25, 1980 in Mount Vernon. The uple moved to Anamosa from the Waterloo area in 1985, and to Mount Vernon in August of 2004. Elmer was a machinist at John Deere in Waterloo for 38 years, retiring in 1979. He was a member of the United Auto Workers Union, Local #38 of Waterloo. Elmer loved spending time at his cabin on the Wapsipinicon River, near Littleton, fishing, hunting, watching boxing, westerns and war movies. Memorials in Elmer's honor may be directed to the family at: P.O. Box 414, Lisbon, IA 52253 On-line condolences: www.morganfuneralchoices.com