Dr. Ian D. Murphy, 1929-2011: Doctor an ex-telegraph operator
12/11/2011Dr. Ian D. Murphy, a family practice physician and chief of staff at the former Riverside Hospital, died Thursday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 82.
His health problems included congestive heart failure.
The graduate of McGill University medical school in Montreal arrived at Riverside in 1960 as an intern and stayed. He had his own practice, on Galena Street and later on Phillips Avenue. Over the years, he was Riverside chief of staff; medical staff executive committee member; chairman of emergency medical services, and co-chairman of the family practice department. He was chairman of international intern recruitment for several years.
Dr. Murphy of West Toledo was on the medical staffs of Mercy and Flower hospitals. He was a special assistant for two years at Toledo Hospital in thoracic and open-heart surgery. He taught emergency childbirth and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to first responders in northwest Ohio, including Toledo police cadets.
"His interests were broader than a specific specialization," said his daughter, Dr. Laura Murphy, a cardiologist.
He retired in the early 1990s.
He was born Sept. 1, 1929, to Laura and Aubrey Murphy on the Caribbean island of Barbados, then a British colony. As a teenager, "he actually was a telegraph operator," his daughter said. "He knew Morse code, and he was a precise person and was interested in the sciences."
He got his undergraduate education at Sir George Williams University in Montreal. He was a chemist for General Foods and became a lab instructor at his alma mater.
He held dual U.S.-Barbadian citizenship and was an honorary consul of Barbados.
"He was incredibly knowledgeable," his son said. "He could hold a conversation with scholars on a lot of different topics, whether science or origins of languages or biblical history and geography."
He was formerly married to Karleen Murphy.
Surviving are his sons, Russell, Robert, Jonathan, and Ian Douglas Murphy; daughter, Dr. Laura Murphy; brother, Colin Murphy, and five grandchildren.
Memorial services will be at 8 p.m. Monday in Urbanski Funeral Home, 5055 Secor Rd., where the family will receive friends after 5 p.m.
The family suggests tributes to Toledo Botanical Garden.
Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.