Gert Murphy, a resident of South Etna Avenue in Montauk, who in her 82 years was a nun, teacher, volunteer, artist, writer, and onetime "hell-raising urchin in her Morningside Heights neighborhood" in Manhattan, died on Dec. 16 at Sky View Rehabilitation and Health Care in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. The cause was Covid-19, though Ms. Murphy had had a debilitating stroke in August.
She was an inspiring teacher for more than 30 years in Cucuta, Colombia, and Mount Vernon, N.Y., said her niece Carolyn Weddell, as well as a tireless handywoman, enthusiastic bridge player, and "selfless volunteer in so-called retirement." She loved languages, especially Spanish; literature, especially Flannery O'Connor; art, especially Michelangelo; dogs, especially her Boston terriers Patches and Emily, and God.
"She painted in her youth, before life became her art," her niece said, "her vast network of friends and family adding indelible brushstrokes while she in turn gave generously of canvas for shelter, sails, wings."
Gertrude Regina Murphy was born on Aug. 20, 1938, to Cornelius Murphy and the former Marguerite Trepold, who was known as Maggie. She grew up in Morningside Heights and was a star basketball player at the Academy of the Sacred Heart of Mary in the Inwood neighborhood.
She earned a bachelor's degree from Marymount Manhattan College and a master's degree from Columbia University. For seven years she was a nun in the order of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and "never lost her vocation, as far as I'm concerned," Ms. Weddell said. Her name in the convent was Mother Marie St. Pierre.
Her three siblings, who died before her, were visitors to Sag Harbor in the 1930s, and another relative had bought a house in Montauk in the early 1950s, her niece said. Before moving to Montauk, Ms. Murphy lived in the Bronx, Mount Kisco, N.Y., and Sag Harbor.
Ms. Murphy is survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends, "all 'family' whom she embraced in imitation of Christ, arms stretched wide," said Ms. Weddell, who lives in the Bronx.
Ms. Murphy was cremated. A funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, where she was a member, the Rev. Robert Joerger officiating. Her ashes are to be buried at Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum in Farmingdale.
Memorial contributions have been suggested to East Hampton Meals on Wheels, 33 Newtown Lane, Suite 205, East Hampton 11937, or ehmealsonwheels.org/donate.
