James "Jim" Murphy RIP

I received an email from his wife that Jim Murphy passed away on December 16th, 2008. Jim was probably one of my oldest friends in Chicago. He worked in the finance department at Lyric Opera Chicago (he started there as an Assistant Stage Manager) and ended up putting his business savvy to good use monitoring stocks for the Opera's endowment. Over the years we had formed a strong bond, and we kept in contact. When Angela and I returned from Ireland/France, he was the first person I contacted. He and I go way back.

Jim was a great saxophone player and he used to bring over his Music-Minus-One CD's and hand me the trombone part to play on my euphonium. I was not a jazzer, but Jim was. Jim was also a Band-In-The-Box fanatic, using this software to recreate charts and record himself playing along. Eventually he moved over to the tin whistle (he said he was getting tired of carry the alto around . . . "It's a hell of alot lighter!" he'd say and then flash that cheezy grin.) He was a brother, a buddy, a friend. He encouraged me and I will never forget that.

He always drank Lite beer (he never wanted anything too fancy . . . OK, maybe a Guinness once or twice). In 98 to 99 we hung around alot (more after I left Lyric). He used to come over to my apartment and we would record and goof around. He contributed a great deal to the score for the Anatomical Theatre's swing-inspired work "Jack Black and Bessie Blue," providing the alto sax samples and pushing me in the right direction.

One of my fondest memories was walking down Chicago Avenue on a warm summer night looking for a bar to have a few beers. The windowless Star Lounge beckoned for some reason. A Puerto Rican bar we assumed. (You had to buzz to get in!) We were the only fair-skinned people in the place, but Jim didn't seem to mind. I remember how he commented on how clean the place was . . . from the outside it looked quite dodgy . . . but inside a family bar with children, soccer on the televisions, and not a word of English spoken . . . except to us, of course. If it is still there, I am going to go back and have a few Lites in his memory.

There are more stories and I will tell them later. Ask me about the performance piece we did with Steve Dumbacher in 1996-97. We dressed up as a lounge act and did amorphic music. Silly, very silly.

He loved his wife Ro deeply and always was sure to get home and not make it too long a night. Jim exhibited a type of sarcasm and dead-end humor that made him so dear to us all. He was unassuming and pure, always true to himself and to those around him.

He was a friend.

Obituary follows:

BROOKFIELD - James Patrick Murphy, 49, of Brookfield, formerly of Springfield, passed away suddenly of cardiac arrest on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, at Adventist Hospital. He was affectionately known as "Jim" to his friends and family.

Jim was born on May 8, 1959, in Decatur, the son of R. Richard Murphy and Eleanor Edith Rimini Murphy. He married Rosemary Lynch of Oak Park in 1996.

He graduated from Quincy College (now Quincy University) with a bachelor's degree in music business. He graduated from Griffin High School in Springfield in 1977.

He was employed as an accountant for the Lyric Opera Company of Chicago where he had worked for more than 20 years and where he found and met his loving wife, Rosemary.

Jim was an accomplished jazz musician who played saxophone with various ensembles in Chicago and in his early career was part of a band that recorded with a major studio in New York. He had also recently begun an exploration of his Celtic roots playing the Irish whistle in several traditional Celtic bands in the Chicago area.

He was an avid cross country skier and had recently taken up the sport of bowhunting. This latter activity allowed for frequent return trips to central Illinois and was just beginning to provide the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends in his hometown.

He is survived by his wife, Rosemary Lynch of Brookfield; a brother, Michael (wife, Jean) Murphy and a sister, Michelle (husband, Mark) McHenry of Springfield; and numerous nieces and nephews who hold him in fond regard.

Family will receive friends for a visitation on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008, from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, at 10 a.m. until time of prayer service at 11 a.m. at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park. Information at (708) 383-3191. Internment services at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

A memorial fund is being established in his name at the Lyric Opera Company of Chicago.