by Jennifer Marino
This year, the Friends of Mercy Medical Center are honoring the Murphys, owners of Murphy Construction of Rockville Centre, at the 37th annual St. Patrick's Gentlemen's Dinner.
"The Murphys are a terrific example of what the Friends of Mercy are trying to accomplish," said dinner event chairman Stephen McLoughlin. The goal, he said, is to help people through hard times.
Last Christmas, the Murphys helped the Steubing family of Levittown. Brothers Ryan and Michael Steubing both have muscular dystrophy and share a small bedroom. In order to accommodate their wheelchairs and medical equipment, Murphy construction enlarged the bedroom just in time for Christmas.
In 1996, the Murphy/MacArthur Park group raised money to build special lifts and extra-wide hallways for Kelly Dolan in Freeport. "They have done some wonderful things for my family," said Karen Dolan, Kelly's mother. Karen admits that she was a bit skeptical of William Murphy's offer to build Kelly a "wing."
Kelly had been in a car accident and was in a coma. Doctors advised her family that the best place for her to recover would be at home. "We needed to have Kelly near us," Karen said.
The Dolans didn't have to worry about fundraising, which was exactly what they needed, said Karen. The Murphys did it all -- William didn't even give out the Dolans' home number to anyone. They broke ground on St. Patrick's Day and Kelly was home by August.
Today, the relationship continues. If something needs to be fixed in Kelly's room, the Murphys are there. William even helped facilitate Kelly's water therapy by working with the volunteer firefighters to transport her and helping keep the pool open on Monday nights.
The Murphys also renovated a home in Baldwin for triplets with muscular dystrophy, and bought a wheelchair-accessible van for a little boy.
"They're helping people all year long," said Thomas Mahoney Jr. of MacArthur Park. Besides the major fundraising project at Christmastime every year, the Murphys look to help families with construction projects throughout the year. For example, if they're asked to build a wheelchair ramp, they try to get materials donated and, if possible, labor too, in order to do the project for free, said Mahoney. Currently they are hoping to get college scholarships for some of the kids they've helped.
William, 52, better known as Billy, and Charles, 54, also known as Chappy, attended St. Agnes High School, and both enrolled in the Marine Corps after graduation. Born in Oceanside, the brothers came to Rockville Centre to attend St. Agnes.
In the Marines, William went to Vietnam. There he helped the nuns at local orphanages, building things and giving the children small gifts and candy. Back in the United States, he was reunited with one of the boys from an orphanage he'd worked with when the child was adopted by a Rockville Centre resident. The boy remembered William's kindness.
"Both of these guys are very humble individuals," said Andrew Healey, past president of the Friends of Mercy, adding that they quietly get the job done.
Currently, William and his wife, Nancy, reside in Freeport, and they have six children, five girls and a boy. Charles lives in Oceanside with his wife, Colleen. They have four children, three girls and a boy.
The St. Patrick's Gentlemen's Dinner will be held on Tuesday, March 11 at the New Hyde Park Inn. Proceeds from the event will be used to buy a 16-slice CT scanner, which allows for high-resolution imaging, providing for early disease detection. Tickets are $200 for the black-tie affair. There will also be a journal to honor the Murphys. For information regarding tickets and journal ads, call the Community relations Department of Mercy Medical Center at 705-1021.
