Betty snuck off to heaven peacefully August 1, 2026, having first been showered with love from her husband, daughter and grandkids. She was raised in a hardscrabble environment in Pittsburgh, PA back when its steel mills still belched smoke and pollution and oftentimes noon was as black as midnight. She grew up with 6 people in a two-room apartment with no bathroom. Betty always told stories of having to wait for the single bathroom they shared with another large family down the hall. If you even thought of reading a newspaper in there you were shot.

Determined to make a momentous life change, in 1966 she drove all the way to New Mexico, for a secretarial job at the then-called Los Alamos National Laboratory. She had never been further than the Jersey shore and was terrified of the long drive, alone. But once there, she loved the high desert terrain, and enjoyed the attention that comes with being an attractive, mid-twenties single woman in a town that was probably 80% male scientists and engineers.  Her husband Hugh still marvels that with10 men for every woman, she picked him. She resided in Los Alamos until 1993, raising daughter Maureen Murphy and son Douglas Murphy.

She had a good adulthood, full of rich friendships that lasted many decades, and a life of travel, including living abroad in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where she traveled all over the Middle East and Africa, including adventures in Iran and Yemen.

Her greatest sadness was the untimely death of our son, Doug, five years ago, aged just 48. She was never the same after that. None of us were. I hope that she has found peace. 

We love you Betty and will miss you very much.

On Aug 15 at 2:30 a funeral service will be held at Hope Church, 4710 Juan Tabo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111, followed at 6 PM by a reception at the family home at 11109 Double Eagle NE, Albuquerque 87111. Please contact Hugh at hugmurphy@gmail.com if you will attend.