Obituary: Jean Murphy

Jean Murphy, 64, wife of Thomas Murphy, was born May of 1946, in Vanport, Ore., the daughter of the late Henry and Elizabeth Kaiser.

Jean worked for the Nevada Appeal for many years. She also worked for Apple Computer, Inc. in California and various other media corporations throughout the years.

September of 2004 (after already 20 years of adventures together) she proudly married Thomas Murphy.

She loved all the adventures with her husband, Tom. Along with traveling to places like Mexico and Africa, they enjoyed participating in events involving motorcycles, airplanes and race cars. She also loved spending time with her daughters, son-in-laws and grandchildren and had the pleasure of being a part of each of her daughter's weddings and the births of her grandchildren.

She is survived by her loving husband, Tom, her daughters: Renee' Byrd, wife of David Byrd, Mischelle Strauser, wife of James Strauser, and Stephanie Piering, wife of Jeffrey Piering, and six grandchildren: Alec and Haley Byrd; Hannah, Emily and Nicolas Strauser; and Ivy Piering.

Jean passed away July 31, 2010 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Although she had cancer, she refused to let it define her and hold her back from living an adventurous and love filled life.

She was an inspirational woman; a wonderful wife, an incredible mother, an awesome grandmother, and a dear friend to many. She strived to be a blessing to others and she tried to remain forever upbeat no matter how many curve balls life threw her way.

She is loved deeply & missed greatly & we all feel very blessed to have had the time with her that we did.

Life is different and will never be the same, but we all just keep forging forward (as she would have wanted us to) and we keep in mind our sweet memories and the things that she has taught us over the years and the things that are ingrained in us that came from her and in this we carry her with us every day.