Edith "Edie" Davis Chapman Murphy

Edith Davis Chapman Murphy, “Edie”, born November 13, 1924, in Tallahassee, Florida, died peacefully on New Year’s Eve 2024 at her home. She leaves behind her children, her grandchildren, and many of her children’s friends who knew and loved her well. Edith was among the first students to go through their high school years at the newly constructed Leon High School on East Tennessee Street. Edith attended classes at Florida State College for Women. She also attended drafting classes at Lively Vocational School where she met and she fell for a Georgia boy, Gillette Anthony Chapman, who was working in the Army Corps of Engineers in WW II. Edith’s first career was as wife and the mother of their three children. Tragically, Gillette (Sr.) died unexpectedly in 1966. Edith then started her second career as a single mom working to take care of her family. Gillette had been employed as a civil engineer at the Florida State Road Department. After he died, Edith was offered a job working for the SRD, now FDOT, as an engineering tech. At FDOT, Edith fell in love again with William Weeks Murphy, also of Tallahassee. She married “Bill” Murphy in 1969. Not long after they married, Bill was diagnosed with cancer and he also died leaving Edith widowed for a second time. Her first marriage had been full of joy and many happy, memorable family vacations cross-country tent camping and visiting at other family gatherings. Her second marriage, although brief, was an adventure introducing Edith to fine hotels, fine restaurants, great music, and Broadway shows. For the rest of her life, she enjoyed traveling, by herself and with family, and spending time with her close friends and family. In 2001, Edith retired from FDOT in her seventies as the oldest employee then working at FDOT’s Central Office. An attempt by a new supervisor to encourage her to retire sooner played out as a great example of Edith’s determination. She was required to take and pass a college-level computer programming class to keep her position, which had nothing to do with computer programming. She took the class, and better than just passing, received a “B”, then told her supervisor she had decided to retire. Edith was fun-loving, fiercely independent, and showed her love for her children and grandchildren in every way imaginable. She lived independently and in the same house she and Gillette had built in 1950 until the day she died. She is survived by her daughter, Edith Lora Chapman, of Tallahassee, her son Gillette Anthony “Tony” Chapman Jr., of Jonesport, Maine and Spanish Wells, Bahamas, (Elizabeth Haverfield), her son James Stanley “Stan” Chapman, of Tallahassee, (Beth Jane LaCivita), and her two granddaughters, Erin Lora Chapman, of New York City, (Tom McNamara) and Abigail Elizabeth LaCivita Chapman, of Tallahassee. Edith’s parents, Joseph and Lula Davis, and her sister, Elizabeth Davis Burnside, predeceased her. Her love will stay with us forever, and we will celebrate her life at a memorial service at Trinity United Methodist Church, 120 West Park Avenue, in the Chapel, on January 25, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. followed by a reception in the church parlor. A private burial will be held at Roselawn Cemetery. Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the Chapman family with their arrangements.

Tributes

Edith "Edie" Davis Chapman Murphy

November 13, 1924 - December 31, 2024