Barbara Thomas Murphy

Barbara Thomas Murphy lost her long fight with Alzheimer’s disease on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. Breathing peacefully, she slipped away in her sleep. Our lives will never be the same.

A true Islander, she was born May 1, 1946, at the hospital in Oak Bluffs to Mary and Bill Thomas. She grew up an Oak Bluffs girl who enjoyed working at the Red and White and walking down to Pay Beach with her friends. While attending Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, she met and began dating the love of her life, Chris Murphy. She was involved in many activities at school, including being the editor in chief of the yearbook in her senior year, 1964. Barbara went on to graduate from Simmons College with a major in editing and publishing, and a minor in Spanish which she strengthened with a semester at a university in Colombia. After a year working in Boston, Barbara married Chris (then a student at URI), and the couple moved to Point Judith, R.I., where Barbara taught high school Spanish and completed her master’s in education at URI.

In 1974, the couple moved back to Martha’s Vineyard, where Barbara went fishing and shellfishing with her husband until a position opened up in the language department at MVRHS. Barbara truly loved the school, the teachers, and most of all the students.

Her influence in the world was epic, as she lived in service to others. As a Spanish teacher at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, she improved the lives of so many. She was a teacher students sought out as their safe person, and she was honored to fill that role. With the help of many, she led innumerable student trips to Spain and Mexico. She used homerooms and class time to ensure that students felt connected to the content, but more importantly to one another. Even after she retired, former students continued to come up to her with stories and memories of her classes, fiestas, and trips. These encounters frequently ended with, “You were my favorite teacher, ever!”

She had the amazing ability to make even the most ordinary activities special — her granddaughter Linden remembers going with Vovo (Barbara) back-to-school shopping at Granite as a very special treat. No matter what you were doing or who you were, she was able to bring joy to the activity and all the people involved, whether you were a loved one or someone she had just met.

She picked up her father’s volunteer work at Meals on Wheels, and loved delivering meals and chatting with “her people.” She adored bringing her grandchildren with her as she delivered meals, connecting them to a life of service. This was especially true at Christmastime, when she would have her granddaughter Emily miss school to deliver meals and holiday cheer. 

Barbara found great joy in her volunteer work at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. She spent hours cataloging postcards that featured her beloved Oak Bluffs over the years. She passes that love to her grandson Finn, who continues to work at the museum.

She and her sister Anne Cummings were members of the Oak Bluffs Homemakers, a group their mother was very much a part of, and which they all enjoyed.

Deeply proud of her Portuguese heritage, she was related to many of the Azorean families on the Vineyard. She enjoyed attending the Portuguese American festivals and listening to her cousin from New Bedford playing the bagpipes, and watching her daughters in the parades and festivities. 

She valued her connections to family and friends above all else. Her sister Anne and brother Bill were continual sources of joy and love. She nurtured friendships that lasted for decades. Her dear friend Janie Cook celebrated life’s milestones with her, and their laughter continued through the arc of her illness, with Janie being one of those who could make her laugh no matter what. Her friendships with fellow teachers were epic. Lynn Ditchfield and Marge Harris spent hours with her, enjoying a Diet Coke and a sweet treat while swapping stories. 

Barbara leaves this world richer than she found it. She was predeceased by her mother and father, Mary and Bill Thomas; and her brother, Bill Thomas Jr. She is survived by many who loved her, including her sister, Anne Cummings, and Anne’s husband John Cummings, and her sister-in-law Dee Thomas. Her children, Hope MacLeod and Mary Boyd, both carry on her legacy of educating others on Martha’s Vineyard. Their spouses, Chris MacLeod and Jonathan Boyd, have been enriched by their experiences and time with Barbara. Her cherished grandchildren, Finn and Linden MacLeod and Emily Boyd, continue traditions passed from their Vovo. She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews, holding them dear to her heart: Johnny Cummings and his family, Beth Kwiat and hers, Kevin Cummings and his, and Karen Nencka and her family. 

Her adoring husband of more than 55 years, Chris Murphy, holds a lifetime and more of memories, love, and stories; may we all be enriched in hearing them told and retold.

Please plan on joining us for a celebration of Barbara’s life on Sunday, March 16, at 2 pm at the Chilmark Community Center. Please feel free to bring a favorite small dish or dessert to share. Interment will be private. There will also be a memorial Mass at her beloved Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in July or August.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living, as they were an immense support to Barbara and our family as she progressed through her illness.