Lewis Curtis "Lew" Murphy (November 2, 1933 – December 1, 2005) was a

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

pilot, lawyer, and politician. He served sixteen years as Mayor of

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Biography

Murphy was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on November 2, 1933, to H. Waldo and Elizabeth (Curtis) Murphy. He grew up in

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt C ...

, the home of his mother. He later attended Shattuck Military Academy in

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway ...

. From 1950 to 1955 Murphy attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration. While in college he met Carol Carney, granddaughter of

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American fronti ...

. The two married in 1957. Murphy was in US Air Force from 1955 to 1958. He flew B-26 bombers while stationed in Japan. In 1958 Murphy returned to Tucson, earning a law degree in 1961. He was a trust officer at Southern Arizona Bank & Trust Co. from 1966 to 1970. Murphy was appointed Tucson's city attorney in 1970, a position he held until elected as Mayor of Tucson in 1971 on his 38th birthday.

Mayor of Tucson

Murphy served four terms as mayor, the longest-serving mayor in Tucson's history. City projects initiated under Murphy included bringing

Central Arizona Project The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...

water to Tucson, building the Kino Parkway, and the opening of the Community Food Bank. During this time Tucson's population almost doubled, the city annexed 63 square miles, and Learjet and IBM opened manufacturing plants. Murphy's term as mayor ended in 1987.

Later life and death

After leaving office, Murphy advocated for the community food bank. Wednesday afternoon, November 30, 2005, Murphy suffered a massive heart attack. He was taken to the Tucson Medical Center and placed on life support. He died at 4:45 PM the following day.

Tributes

According to ''Arizona Daily Star'' newspaper reporter David Leighton, in 1987, the year Murphy retired, Murphy's Overpass was named in his honor. The Murphy-Wilmot Branch Library of the Pima County Public Library is also named after him. A bust of Murphy is on display in Reid Park, Tucson's largest park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Lew University of Arizona alumni Mayors of Tucson, Arizona 1933 births 2005 deaths Politicians from New York City Politicians from Clinton, Iowa United States Air Force airmen 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers