University News
Western's Longest Living Grad Reflects on Days Gone By
August 13, 2009
MACOMB, IL – "You have to be sort of happy, and you have to be forgiving for a long and healthy life," said 1922 Western Illinois University graduate Chella Jean (Williams) Murphy of Burlington, IA, who will celebrate her 108th birthday Oct. 15.
Born and raised in Bushnell (IL), Murphy attended Western Illinois State Normal School, graduating with her teaching certificate in 1922. In a videotaped interview, Murphy recalls her times at WIU and after graduation. It was during her time at Western, when she traveled to Knox College in nearby Galesburg to visit her sister. While there, she noticed the girls had their hair cut in cute little bobs.
"I called my aunt, a spinster schoolteacher in Bushnell who had taken me and my five siblings in after our mother died, to ask if I could get my hair cut in a bob, and she said 'sure.' I was the first one on Western's campus with that haircut," she remembered. "But the school president [President Morgan] didn't approve and he took away my student teaching job."
But that didn't slow Murphy's ambition of being a teacher. Her uncle was a lawyer in Bushnell, and quite soon after Morgan's actions, Murphy and her uncle drove back to Macomb in his old Model T Ford to see Morgan.
"I was back to work soon after that and all the girls at Western had their hair bobbed, too," she laughed.
Murphy's spirit appeared again soon after graduation while she was teaching elementary school. According to Murphy, in those days (the early 1920s), teachers were not allowed to marry. Just like the bob haircut not being allowed on Western's campus, Murphy wasn't going to let that "rule" stand. She married Ray Murphy and in 1924 she had her daughter, Jean. Two years later, son Charles ("Chick") was born. After nearly 20 years in McDonough County, the Murphys moved to Burlington (IA) where both Chella and Ray worked at the ordnance plant, while raising their family.
"When I was 58 years old, I returned to the fourth grade classroom at Grimes Elementary in Burlington," she said.
Murphy retired in 1971 at the age of 70, and six years ago, at age 101, she took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Grimes Elementary School.
Des Moines (IA) dentist Dr. Chris Lundeel was a student in Murphy's fourth grade classroom in 1961.
"I was sort of ornery," Lundeel said with a laugh. "Most of my teachers up until then didn't think I'd amount to much. Mrs. Murphy was different. Her encouragement and high expectations turned me around and really made a difference in my educational career."
Looking back through history through Murphy's recollections, Theodore Roosevelt was elected president just before she was born. The first Nobel Prize was awarded that same year and six years later came Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
"I was only 11 years old when the Titanic sank and I was barely 19 when women first won the right to vote. And I've voted in every election since," she recalled. "The average annual salary for teachers during my first year of teaching was $840. It may not have been much, but the experience was priceless."
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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