Sheila Murphy
Sheila Murphy may be a native of Massachusetts,
but she’s at home in Maine. Having grown up in a big
Catholic family in
suburbia, she learned to play her grandfather’s fiddle, her
father’s guitar and
later inherited her grandmother’s piano.
From age nine, she played in church and spent hours at
home jamming with
her equally musical sister. As
a junior
in high school she was delighted to learn that one could actually major
in
music in college. Her
choice was Marywood
University in Scranton,
Pennsylvania, at
that time the largest
Catholic women’s college in the country.
Graduating with a Bachelors degree in Music Education, she
taught in
Catholic schools in Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts.
In St. Zepherin Parish (the only St.
Zepherin in the
country!) in Wayland,
Massachusetts,
she worked full time as music director and youth minister.
After marrying John Murphy (conveniently
owning the same last name) the couple moved to John’s native Los
Angeles.
There
Sheila worked as a Youth Minister and received a Masters in Pastoral
Ministry
from the Jesuit-run
Loyola Marymount
University. Her master’s
thesis tracks the change in the
philosophy of Catholic mission in the 20th
century using Maryknoll
as a case study. After
two children were
born, the family moved to Maine.
The second day Sheila was in town,
she was pointed in the
direction of Charlie Crosby, a drummer who was starting a jazz ensemble
for
mass. Sheila was
hooked at the first
rehearsal and became the director that year.
Fr. Steve Concannon, pastor of St.
Charles,
hired Sheila as Director of Adult Education for the parish. After a few years, she
took some time off to
focus on her family. Now
she is the
Director of School Ministry at St.
John’s Catholic
School, here in Brunswick.
Sheila:
h: 725-1488 c: 841-7706 1murphy2murphy@myfairpoin.net