Chicago Tribune (IL) - October 2, 2003
Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Bill Wirtz remembers Don Murphy "as the last of the old-time sports publicity men."
Mr. Murphy, 79, who spent 42 years working in the Blackhawks' public relations and season ticket sales departments until he retired in 1995, died of a stroke Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Church Creek Health Care Center in Arlington Heights.
"I'm very sad to hear it," said Wirtz. "He was an outspoken Irishman who loved America, loved Chicago and loved the Chicago Blackhawks. He and the late Ben Bentley are the last of the old breed of PR men in Chicago.
"He was like an institution in Chicago Stadium. When he was our PR director his favorite thing was the playoffs when he'd open Murphy's Bar & Grill. We'd go on the road and he'd bring beer and liquor and cold cuts and rye bread into his hotel room. He and the Chicago press corps would play poker all night long and sometimes they'd lure in the writers from the host city so there'd be some fresh money," Wirtz said.
Mr. Murphy, an Oak Park native, attended the University of Notre Dame before leaving to join the Army during World War II. He was a paratrooper for the 517th Division in Europe. Mr. Murphy, who met his late wife, Jacqueline, while serving in France, also was the editor of an Army newspaper, the Thunderbolt.
When the war ended, Mr. Murphy returned to Chicago and worked a short stint in the Sun-Times sports department before leaving to pursue a career as a sports publicist, working in harness racing, hockey, boxing and ice skating.
Mr. Murphy was hired by Bill Wirtz's late father, Arthur, to serve as the Blackhawks' public relations director. He also worked with Bentley in publicizing International Boxing Club matches in the Stadium.
"Murph was one of the old-time PR guys, and he was one of a kind," reminisced Elmer Polzin, the Chicago Tribune's retired racing writer and handicapper, expressing the consensus of members of the media and athletes who came to know Mr. Murphy during his long and colorful career. "We had some great times during those first years that there was harness racing in Chicago."
Mr. Murphy is survived by three daughters, Genevieve Powers, Anne Carden and Joyce; a son, Kevin; a sister, Shannon Mundinger; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday in Lauterburg-Oehler Funeral Home, 2000 E. Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights. Mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church, 432 W. Park St., Arlington Heights.