Ella passed peacefully in her home surrounded by family on October 29, 2026. She was loved by everyone who knew her. Her bright smile and loving heart knew no bounds. She will be greatly missed. We have lost someone very special.

Ella Rea Murphy was born on August 8, 1930, in Oak Park, IL. She was the youngest of the three girls from her parents’ union, with two older half-sisters and, later, two younger half-sisters. Ella’s devoted father, a general practitioner physician, nurtured Ella and educated her on ‘how to live,’ teaching, also by example, to respect all people and recognize their humanity.

Ella grew up spending summers in the Salt River Range of Star Valley, WY, with her maternal line, including her pioneering maternal grandfather, Sheriff Benjamin Broadbent. There, Ella could often be found donning a wide-brimmed hat atop her Indian pony, Betsy. She was physically active throughout her life with tennis as an early sport, thanks to the nearby courts of Rosary College (now Dominican University) in her childhood neighborhood. A passionate Bridge player from early on, she spent many weekends in her teens enjoying the game with friends, a pastime that continued throughout her adult life.

After graduating from Oak Park-River Forest Township High School, Ella attended Iowa State University for three years, focusing on the sciences. In 1951, she married James D. Murphy and moved with him to California where Jim, a WWII Navy veteran, was an Army training officer for enlisted men heading to the Korean War. The couple’s first child, Gregory Paul Murphy, was born in California in 1952; Therese (“Terri”) Murphy was born three years later in Wisconsin where Ella and Jim had moved with Jim’s post-military job in the paper supply business. Jim’s work also took them to Tarrytown, NY, and Lexington, and then Concord-Carlisle, MA, where Jim started his own paper business and where they raised their family.

Ella completed her bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University with a double major in social work and science. When Greg and Terri were teenagers, Ella returned to Fitchburg State University and obtained a master’s degree in special education and school psychology. She then worked for two decades in this field for the Stow public school system in Massachusetts, ten years in grades K-3 and ten in grades 4-6. Curious and open-hearted by nature, she was cherished by the district’s superintendent who often praised her excellence in the job, which made his job easier. A champion for her students, Ella, always treated them with patience, kindness, and respect. Frustrated aids who might use disparaging words, such as “lazy,” to describe any students were swiftly reprimanded or dismissed by Mrs. Murphy.

Outside this challenging but deeply rewarding work, as she mothered children growing into adolescence and young adulthood, the many years in Thoreau country saw Ella enjoying vegetable gardening, sewing, knitting, embroidery, painting, and her daughter’s dog Freckles. Both children graduated from the University of Rhode Island, Greg with a degree in chemistry and later a masters in biochemistry, Terri in food science & technology, followed by a masters in food science & technology from the University of California-Davis.

After retirement, Ella and Jim moved to Springhill, FL, to be near Terri’s young family. There, Ella ran a tennis team, kept up her Bridge game and cared for her grandchildren. In 1998, due to Jim’s health concerns, the couple decided to move to Charlottesville, an appealing place they’d visited on road trips from Massachusetts to Florida over the years, with proximity to good medical care and the Appalachian Mountains, giving Ella a flavor of her childhood summers.

In Charlottesville, Ella volunteered for Democratic candidates who believed in helping others as well as in the office of Unity Church. She volunteered at the front desk of the Senior Center and joined hikes with groups on nearby trails. Jim’s death six years later coincided with Terri’s family relocating to Charlottesville. It was at this juncture that Ella found unexpected inspiration in storytelling and began writing what would become eleven novels over fifteen years published as The Maria Series, under her name Ella Rea Murphy. The humanistic saga tracks the life, loves and relationships of protagonist Maria, from her coming-of-age in the 1940s (after WWII) to her midlife years. The books were first launched at Charlottesville’s The Quest Bookshop where Ella was celebrated. While the novels are loosely based on Ella’s life, she researched and included relevant historical events and aspects of spiritualism while trying to better understand what our soul’s purpose is. Ella studied and practiced meditation and Reiki, attended several workshops over many years at Edward Cayce’s Virginia Beach institute, read widely on near-death experiences, life between lives, the afterlife, and the soul’s journey.

Ella’s abiding aspiration was to support a united and loving family. Indeed, her family was an all-encompassing source of joy that contributed to her life’s meaning.

Ella’s son Greg, a bioengineer and beloved husband and father to one daughter, died in 2016. Ella is survived by her daughter, Terri Ellison (Ernie Pugh); her grandchildren, Carol and Sidney Ellison; and her great-granddaughter Diana.

Cards are welcome, but in lieu of flowers consider a donation to your favorite charity or: Blue Ridge Food Bank, St. Jude’s Children Hospital or Environmental Defense Fund.

An online guestbook is available at www.compassionatecremationva.com

Compassionate Cremation Services of Ruckersville, VA is honored to serve Ella’s family.