Sheila A. Murphey, MD

Dr. Sheila A. Murphey, a physician who specialized in infectious diseases, died of cancer Monday September 20 at St. Joseph Villa in Flourtown. She was 78. Dr. Murphey grew up in Mt. Airy and graduated from Chestnut Hill College in 1965. She completed her M.D. at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in East Falls, where she graduated in 1969 at the top of her class. After completing her medical residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Dr. Murphey returned to Philadelphia as a fellow in infectious diseases at University of Pennsylvania and stayed on as an attending physician at Philadelphia General Hospital until it closed in 1977. Late that year, she joined the Division of Infectious Diseases at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as Director. Dr. Murphey was also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Jefferson who was recognized as an excellent teacher, and won several Medical Resident teaching awards. In 2005, Dr. Murphey left Jefferson to join the US Food and Drug Administration in Bethesda MD where she served as Infection Control Branch Chief for the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiologic Health. Upon retiring from the FDA in 2013, she returned to her home in Chestnut Hill where she was active in Our Mother of Consolation Church, serving as a Eucharistic Minister, working with the parish peace and justice committee, and coordinating the church’s blood drives. She was someone who appreciated the blessings of family, and demonstrated this generously whenever she could. History was also a great interest of hers, and she read widely on many aspects of the past, and curated the family archives. Dr. Murphey is survived by sisters Sara, Maryellen Martin and Kathleen, and brothers William J. and John (Vincenetta), two nieces and two nephews, and many cousins. She was predeceased by her parents William J. and Sara Esther Mallon, and by her brother Michael. A Funeral Mass will be held Monday September 27th at 10 AM at Our Mother of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill.