It was the dog- days of summer in 1940. From the open window of the second floor Craftsman house on the corner of 6th and Kathleen Street the small cry of a newborn baby could be heard from the sidewalk below. Ethel looked out the window as she sat rocking her newborn daughter, Marcia, who was born a few weeks before, on July 22.  Neighbors walked by and stopped momentarily to wave and offer congratulations to Ethel and Bill Dering, the proud new parents of their first-born child.

Marcia grew up in the Beechmont neighborhood where she was an only child for 5 years until her younger brother, Garrett, was born. They were a close-knit family, and the bloodline ran deep. Her grandmother, aunts, and uncles all lived within a few blocks and were influential in her upbringing. One of Marcia’s favorite childhood memories was afternoons spent at Aunt Nina’s house.

Every day on her walk home from school, Marcia would pass Aunt Nina’s house. Often, she would drop by for a visit. When Aunt Nina heard the door open, she would holler from the kitchen, “You hungry dear? Come on in here and I’ll fix you something.”  Aunt Nina’s love language was food!  Marcia would drop her book bag and run to the kitchen table.  Aunt Nina was always standing in front of her old gas stove heating up the cast iron skillet. Marcia’s mouth watered just thinking about her favorite after school snack. When the skillet was good and hot Aunt Nina would dig her wooden spoon into the jar on the counter and scoop out a mountain of butter and slap it into the middle of the cast iron. It sizzled and popped and filled the room with a delightful fragrance. Slicing a hunk of homemade salt rising bread from the loaf, she gently laid it on top of the melted butter. She Flipped it when it was golden brown and then smothered it with sugar. Just as the sugar caramelized on top of the bread, Aunt Nina would loosen it from the skillet with her worn spatula and place it nicely on a beautiful plate. She turned from the stove with a beaming smile, laid the plate on the kitchen table, and said, “So how was your day at school?”  Marcia quickly sunk her teeth into the warm sweet treat and thought to herself, this is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. She savored every bite.

Marcia attended Southern Junior High School where she met her best friend, Sandy. The two of them were like peas in a pod, they spent as much time together as they could. They walked to school together, rode their bikes around the neighborhood together, and like most preteen girls of the day, they spent hours talking on the phone together.  After junior high, they both went to DuPont Manual High School. Their friendship grew and so did their teen interest in boys and dating. Marcia and Sandy spent many Friday nights together on double dates with their boyfriends.  During football season they would meet at Manual stadium and sit together as couples in the student section cheering on the rams and waving their crimson pendants. After football games they would go to The Ranch House drive-in to get something to eat. Apparently, the hamburgers weren’t the only hot item on the menu. The Ranch House was the social and dating scene of the time. Marcia said, “Anyone who was anybody wanted to be seen cruising the parking lot at The Ranch House”.  It seemed to be a rite of passage for teens in the late 1950’s.

Today, 67 years later, Marcia and Sandy are still best friends. Sandy married her high school sweetheart. Marcia was Maid of honor at her wedding. Several years later when Marcia married, Sandy was her matron of honor and her son, Todd, was her ringbearer. Throughout the years, Marcia and Sandy have always kept in touch and been close to each other in heart even when they lived far apart. They visited each other when they could, and in the between times kept the phone lines busy like they did as young girls talking for hours about everything and nothing.  As best friends, Marcia and Sandy are there for each other through life’s good times and not so great times, celebrating milestones, sharing advice, and mourning loss. They raised their kids together, traveled together, double- dated with their spouses together, buried their parents and a few close friends together, and watched their grandchildren grow into young adults together. When Marcia’s memory began to fade, and she could no longer dial the phone to talk, Sandy would face-time Marcia so she could have a visual reminder of who she was talking to.  It brought Marcia such contentment to reminisce and retell stories of a distant past.  As soon as Marcia moved into Hallmark House, Sandy didn’t miss a beat, she came right over to visit her.  Sandy is one of the few faces that Marcia still recognizes. Marcia’s eyes sparkle with a look of excitement when Sandy visits. Even if they can’t talk for hours like they used to, Marcia knows in her soul that her best friend is there by her side like she has been since they were young girls. Their friendship is a blessing. Sandy is the definition of a true best friend that loves at all times!

After graduating from Manual in 1958, Marcia continued her education at University of Louisville, where she was a proud member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. In 1962, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology.  That summer she took a position working in the lab at Kosair Children’s Hospital on Eastern Parkway.  As an independent working woman during the 1960’s revolution, Marcia was excited to be “out of the nest” and living on her own, at the then, newly built Camelot Apartments, in the sought after Highland’s neighborhood. It was the first apartment complex of its kind to have a courtyard swimming pool. She thought she had arrived! Enjoying the freedom of single life and a warm summer day, Marcia took the opportunity to hang out with a few of her neighbors’ poolside.   The lounge chairs were facing the pool in a long horizontal line. Marcia chose one in the middle of the lineup next to a few others who also enjoyed relaxing by the pool. While sunning herself she was making small talk with the person next to her. She was telling them about a bad sunburn she got on a recent trip to Florida. Marcia mentioned how she had just bought 100 shares of stock in a new aloe cream that just hit the market because she was so impressed with its results. At that moment a handsome young man a few chairs down from her lifted his head from resting on the lounge chair and said, “Are you Mr. Dering’s daughter?” Surprised, Marcia responded, “Yes, how do you know my father?” The young man introduced himself as Bill Murphy but said, “You can call me Murph”.  He went on to explain, “Your father is my stockbroker, and he mentioned that his daughter had recently moved in here”.   The conversation quickly shifted from small talk with others to an exclusive dialogue with just the two of them. They talked about stocks and how he had met her father in Springfield, KY, the small town where he grew up, about an hour from Louisville.  They both laughed and agreed it was either coincidence or fate that brought them together that warm sunny summer day at the pool.

As the old saying goes, “The rest is history”.  This past year, Marcia and Murph celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary.  They were married April 22, 1967, at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Louisville at the corner of 4th and Kentucky Street. Murph teases to this day when he tells people how the two of them met and says, “I married Marcia for her 100 shares of stock, and she got a meal ticket for life.”

Leaving the wild single apartment life behind, Marcia and Murph bought a cute yellow Cape Cod on Speed Avenue in the Highlands and began their married life together.  There they raised their two children, Elizabeth and Will, and lived for 32 years. Marcia was an involved mother, volunteering at her children’s school to be the room mother, chaperoning field trips, organizing fundraisers, and even administering fluoride treatments once a week. She was cookie chair for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop for several years.  A longtime member of her beloved summer escape, Lakeside Swim Club, she enjoyed many sunny days there with family and friends. She drove carloads of neighborhood kids back and forth to swim team practice and volunteered as a timer during swim meets. She cheered her son on at soccer games and daughter at field hockey. She hosted team gatherings and youth groups and still found time to work part-time while the kids were in school.

Marcia always dreamed of living in a stately house with big columns flanking the entry.  After her children grew up and married, her wish came true. She and Murph envisioned, designed, and had their dream home built in Mockingbird Gardens, where they lived for the past 26 years. They hosted family birthdays and holidays, wedding showers and baby showers, as well as out-of-town guests from near and far.

Marcia is a woman that wants to be moving and doing, actively exploring new places and seeking new experiences. When her kids were growing up, they would say, her middle name should be “GO!”  Marcia loved planning and going on trips.  Her travels took her across the United States including Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, and 19 countries abroad. One of her favorite tours was to China and Taiwan, sponsored by the Speed Museum, where she is a member.

In 1985, Marcia told Murph, “Now that the kids are teenagers, we should take a family summer vacation to Europe”. It was the first time any of them had been overseas. Marcia researched travel agencies and landed on the perfect all-inclusive 24-day European tour. With luggage checked and passports and plane tickets in hand the four Murphy’s boarded a British Airways plane for a summer vacation they would never forget. Once the family landed in London, they were tired and jet lagged from the long flight and six-hour time change, but excited about the adventure ahead. After claiming their luggage and locating the tour group, the four of them checked in and were welcomed by their tour guide who used the European format, opposite of American’s, calling them “The Family Murphy”. The tour bus took them around London showing off the sight of the city, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and finally Trafalgar Square where dinner reservations were waiting at an authentic English pub. Hungry from the long day of touring and excited to try the local cuisine.  When it was time to load the bus, Marcia bent over to gather her purse from the floor, under the table, where she laid it. She reached far under the table and looked again, that’s when she noticed it wasn’t there. “I’ve been robbed!”, she yelled, “My purse is gone, MY PURSE IS GONE!!” The entire pub gasped. Others nearby frantically looked around and under the table in hopes of finding her purse. With no success, the owner of the pub dialed the police, and Marcia reported her purse stollen. Having to keep on schedule, the tour guide herded the group and got them back on the bus and headed to the hotel for the night.  With tensions high, the tour guide made an announcement over the bus speaker, “Unfortunately, the Family Murphy was a victim of our infamous pickpockets.” he continued, “Tourists are an easy target for thieves because they are not paying attention to their surroundings. Know where your belongings are at all time, I repeat keep your valuable close.”  Marcia stood up from her seat and announced to the entire bus, “From now on, I’m going to keep my foot on it!” The people on the bus burst out laughing. That became the quote of the trip that resonated throughout Europe for the next 23 days.  The Family Murphy missed the last day of the tour of England and instead spent the entire day at the American Embassy replacing passports, traveler’s checks, and airline tickets that were all in Marcia’s purse. That trip was talked about, and the story was retold over and over for years. To this day, the four Murphy’s fondly refer to themselves as “The Family Murphy”.

When Marcia was not traveling, she was active around Louisville.  She is a proud native and passionate about her causes and serving to give back to the community. As a supporter of the arts, she was a Board member for Association of Louisville Orchestra where she helped raise funds to enhance musical opportunities in the community as well as regularly attended concerts. She was also an annual subscriber of Actor’s Theatre and enjoyed years of plays on date nights with Murph. Marcia spearheaded many philanthropic events that benefited several different organizations in the community as a member of the Younger Woman’s Club and then later, The Woman’s Club of Louisville as well as The Fillies that support the Derby traditions that make Louisville so notable.

Marcia is a member of Highland Presbyterian Church, where she served as a Deacon, Elder, lay counselor for Stephen’s Ministry, and on the worship committee.  Marcia has always been an advocate for the underprivileged, especially for families and children. She served as a family resettlement and naturalization/ citizenship advocate for Kentucky Refugee Ministries and as a Board member for Kentucky Foster Care Review.

By far Marcia’s biggest passion is being “Mimi” to her 8 grandchildren: Logan, Maggie, Reid, Ethan, Parker, Annie, Owen, and Emmie. They are the light of her life. She was so blessed to have all 8 of them grow up here in Louisville and be part of their everyday life from infancy to young adults. Marcia’s famous quote about being a grandmother is, “There’s nothing better than being a grandmother. You can love them and spoil them and then send them back home”.  With the grandchildren now adults, they regularly gather for meals, reminiscing and laughing as they exchange cherished stories about their favorite childhood moments with Mimi around the dining room table.  Mimi is like the magical feeling of holidays no matter what time of year it is.

To quote the song in the The Sound of Music, one of Mimi’s all-time favorite movies,” These are a few of our favorite things” …. (memories from the grandchildren)

The second we stepped foot in the front door of Mimi’s house; she was right there waiting to smother us with kisses and hugs. As much as we complained about it at the time, it was so sweet to be loved and welcomed by her.  Mimi usually had her apron on because we generally were at her house for a family get together, birthday, or holiday, which all revolved around food.  On our birthdays, Mimi would bake a cake for us and every time it would come out lopsided. We wondered if her oven wasn’t balanced or if she didn’t evenly pour the batter in the pan, or if the old pans were so worn out and simply crying for mercy. Regardless, we would laugh at her expense but then gobble it up.

Each year, the first week of June, Mimi and Papa would take us to Huber’s Farm in Indiana to go strawberry picking. We would load onto a hay wagon pulled by a tractor and ride to the strawberry patch to pick them fresh off the vine. Mimi would say, “Eat as many as you want, but save the big juicy ones to make jam”. We ate as many as we picked and our face and fingernails were proof. On our way home we would stop at the Berry Twist for an ice cream cone. Mimi’s favorite food is ice cream. She would order vanilla and chocolate swirled together. When our cones would start to melt and drip, Mimi would say, “Hand me your cone so I can shape it up”. That meant she would eat half of it. When we got back home, Mimi would put on her apron and get busy in the kitchen making homemade strawberry jam. She made dozens of jars. She gave some away as gifts, we each got a jar or two to take home and the rest she froze. At every family gathering or holiday Mimi would pull out a jar of her homemade strawberry jam. She would call out one of our names and say, “This jar is made with the strawberries you picked”. When we were younger, we believed that the individual strawberries that we picked were in that specific jar and took great pride in enjoying the fruit of our labor.

We spent many lazy summer’s days swimming at Mimi and Papa’s neighborhood pool. Afterwards we would go back to their house and sit on the back porch while we sucked on a popsicle or devoured ice cream served in colorful plastic Tupperware bowls. Sometimes if we were lucky, we got to have a sleepover. In the morning, we would go to Mc Donald’s and order the Big Breakfast.

On the 4th of July, we had a “porch dinner”. Mimi always served store- bought fried chicken, her famous homemade potato salad, and watermelon. For dessert we had strawberry shortcake made with none other than Mimi’s homemade strawberry jam on top of a biscuit with whipped cream. After dinner we would go outside and have a watermelon seed spitting contest and she would sing a silly little catchy song about a watermelon she learned when she was a young girl.

Mimi’s favorite Holiday is Halloween. She loved to dress up in her costumes. Some years she was “The Great Pumpkin” and others she was an ugly scary witch. She played the part well and cackled when she opened the door just to see the kid’s reaction when she handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.

At Thanksgiving, Mimi would cook her turkey in a brown paper grocery bag, and it came out perfectly golden and juicy. We always wondered how the house didn’t burn down with all the vegetable oil she slathered on the bird.

Christmas is our favorite holiday of all, not because of the gifts, but for the nostalgia. Mimi and Papa’s house smelled of a woodburning fireplace and was decorated like pages out of Southern Living magazine. Garland was draped on the staircase banister, tied in oversized red velvet bows and adorned with twinkling lights. The Christmas tree grazed the 10-foot ceilings and dripped with ornaments; several have our names and the year marked as reminders of Christmas’s past.  Its lights sparkled like glitter and filled the whole room with a warm glow. Our Traditional Christmas dinner is beef tenderloin, whipped garlic potatoes, salad, and Sister Shubert’s yeast rolls with Mimi’s homemade strawberry jam.  For dessert Mimi served her assortment of decadent homemade Christmas candies. They were all delicious, but everyone especially savors her caramels, they are smooth as silk and melt like butter in your mouth.  Christmas was the only time of year she made candy. It was a labor of love that took her weeks to make and package as gifts for her friends and neighbors. After dinner we gathered in the family room around the Christmas tree and in front of the fireplace to open presents and for the reading of The Night Before Christmas from a first edition copy of the book from 1890’s. The book is a family heirloom that belonged to Mimi’s dad and uncle when they were young boys. It was passed down to her and one day will be passed down to our parents, who now carry on our family Christmas tradition. Even though the physical book itself is old, the story itself is timeless. It’s rich in history, yet still relevant today. Mimi is like the old book, her pages may be worn and torn, but her family heritage is significant and powerful. Her legacy is timeless as long as we keep telling her story.