Joan Patricia Murphy Park Dedicated At Worth Township Center
ALSIP, IL — Joan Patricia Murphy broke through many glass ceilings during her long career as a public servant, so it was only appropriate that a park be dedicated in her memory where it all started.
One of the most influential elected officials in the south suburbs and a role model for women, public officials, colleagues and friends gathered last month to officially unveil the new 3-acre park on the Worth Township Center campus at 116th Street and Pulaski Road in Alsip. Pulling a black drape off the new sign was Worth Township Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy, who currently holds the same office as her late mother.
“She was a natural organizer and natural born leader,” her daughter said in her remarks at the park dedication. “She was the first woman to be elected to Worth Township government in its 128 years of existence.”
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As a kid, Patricia Joan Murphy recalled there being a park before the expansion of the township hall parking lot.
“I remember coming here as a kid, being in the hallways and camp, watching my mother do what she loved best,” Patricia Joan Murphy said.
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Joan Patricia Murphy was a Bostonian by birth. She attended the State Teachers College in Boston but the friendly skies beckoned. She became a United Airline stewardess and flew in the late 1950s. She was stationed in Chicago, where she met Leo High School graduate, Donald, whom she married in 1959. The couple settled in Crestwood where they would raise their four children: Donald, Jr., Timothy and Anthony.
“Her interest in politics was inspired by President John F. Kennedy, but her interest in public service happened organically,” Trish Murphy recalled. “I remember neighbors coming to the door seeking help. They knew my mother was the person in town to come and ask. She would do something to help them, or find someone who could.”
The first elected office Murphy ran for was the village clerk of Crestwood, which she won in 1965. After serving one term, she became the first woman to be elected Worth Township Clerk, serving from 1977 to 1985.
Murphy took a break from politics when she held a variety of public service positions, including a job developer for displaced steel workers, and an administrative assistant for the Cook County Circuit Court.
When her husband, Donald, noticed that she lost the fire in her eye, he encouraged her to run for public office. This time, she ran for Worth Township supervisor – the third largest township in Illinois –and won, serving from 1989 to 1997.
Concurrent with her township supervisor role, Murphy was a chief investigator for the Cook County Board of Ethics from 1995 to 2002, until she decided to make a run for the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
In 2002, Murphy became the first female to be elected commissioner of the 6th District of Cook County Board, where she served until 2016 until breast cancer forced her to leave office. Murphy died at age 79 in 2016
“She ran for 6th District commissioner in Cook County and served there until the day she wasn’t with us anymore,” her daughter said. “She joked about being taken out in a casket. She just died doing what she loved the day she was gone.”
The three-acre Joan Patricia Murphy Park includes a playground, benches, walking paths, a water feature, sheltered picnic area, and native plants and grasses. Calling the park a “passion project,” Patricia Joan Murphy extended her thanks to Sen. Bill Cunningham (18th District), State Rep. Mary Gill (35th District), State Representative Kelly Burke, former State Rep. Fran Hurley, Alsip Mayor John Ryan, OMFM Law firm, Tim Klass with Novotny Engineering, Design Perspectives, Marchione Electric, Innovation landscapers and township employees.
“So many people called my mother a trailblazer, powerhouse, tough as nails and a dynamo,” her daughter said. “She was a true public servant at heart when she was working with residents. Everyone she helped got to experience how kind, giving, warm and generous she was. My mother was a loving and joyful person. She was good at this life.”
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