During his 32 years as mayor of west suburban Woodridge, William Murphy Jr. oversaw significant development and growth as the town’s population grew by about 50% and large industrial projects and the Seven Bridges development, which now includes restaurants, a movie theater, an 18-hole golf course and housing, took shape.
Murphy also emerged as a forceful advocate for all DuPage County municipalities in the early 2000s amid a battle with county leaders who wanted to seize control of the DuPage Water Commission, which distributes Lake Michigan water.
“He did everything with great vision and a great heart, with dedication to our community,” said Woodridge Mayor Gina Cunningham, who succeeded Murphy. “He was wonderfully humble but extremely impactful, and he knew his purpose and he faithfully served that, whether it was with his family or his community.”
Murphy, 81, died of complications from lymphoma March 30 at his home, said his wife, Elizabeth. He had lived in Woodridge since 1968.
Born in Chicago, Murphy grew up in Elmhurst and attended Immaculate Conception elementary school. He graduated from St. Bede Academy in downstate Peru and then received a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Joseph’s College in Indiana.
Murphy briefly attended law school before returning to school to gain the credentials needed to become a teacher. He taught at Ulysses S. Grant School on Chicago’s Near West Side for several years, and during that time picked up a master’s degree in education from Roosevelt University.
In 1968, Murphy moved his family to Woodridge — he joked to the Tribune in 1988 that at the time, “I thought at first that this place was out at the end of the world” — and in 1970, he left Grant School to take a job as principal of Goodrich School in Woodridge. Four years later, he became principal of Edgewood School in Woodridge, and the following year, he was appointed to the newly created position of assistant superintendent for personnel in Woodridge School District 68.
“(The job) was a good match,” Murphy’s wife said. “He was very much of a people person.”
Upon Murphy’s retirement from District 68 in 2004, the District 68 board renamed Woodridge Elementary School as William F. Murphy Elementary School.
In 1972, Murphy was appointed to a vacancy on Woodridge’s Village Board. The following year, Murphy won election to a four-year term as trustee and was reelected in 1977.
In 1981, Murphy successfully ran for mayor. He was reelected seven times, serving a total of 32 years over eight terms.
During his time as mayor, Murphy oversaw the approval and development of new housing developments, which helped increase the village’s population from more than 21,000 to more than 32,000. Retired state Supreme Court Justice S. Louis Rathje, who as an attorney represented developer Gallagher & Henry in the 1980s before Woodridge’s Village Board, recalled Murphy’s leadership as the town grew.
“I found Mayor Murphy to be fair, honest and forthright,” Rathje said.
From the time he was elected, Murphy also sought to shift attention toward greater commercial development in Woodridge.
“It’s changing Woodridge from not just a quality residential community, but also a community that offers commercial, warehouse, office and, along with it, jobs,” Murphy told the Tribune in 2000.
Projects that Murphy was most proud of include the Seven Bridges development near Illinois Highway 53 and Hobson Road, and the ProLogis Park Internationale Centre industrial park near Interstate 55 and Interstate 355. Earlier in his career, Murphy led efforts to construct a new village hall, police station and other civic buildings.
“He really believed in our neighbors, the community, the county and beyond that,” Cunningham said. “He always was a fighter in such a good, positive way in serving people. And he was a champion of children and education.”
Murphy was at the helm in Woodridge when the village joined with 22 other DuPage communities to build a pipeline to bring Lake Michigan water to the county. After lake water began flowing in 1992, Murphy became more involved with the DuPage Water Commission, the semi-independent agency that pipes water to the county’s towns, particularly amid a skirmish with then-DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, who was interested in taking some of the agency’s excess reserves for non-water purposes.
The battle intensified, with state legislation drawn up in 2003 to abolish the water commission and hand its oversight over to the DuPage County Board. Murphy became an outspoken opponent of that legislation, and he was a public advocate for DuPage municipalities retaining some level of oversight over the Lake Michigan water agency as well.
“If our rates are set with that (money) going to the county, we will have to raise our annual rates to our charter customers by 25%, which would no doubt translate into a 25% increased cost to Mr. and Mrs. DuPage to obtain Lake Michigan water,” Murphy told the Tribune in 2003.
Ultimately, the water commission remained semi-independent under a compromise with county leaders and passed by the General Assembly. In 2004, Murphy joined the water commission’s board, eventually becoming its vice chairman. He retired from the board in 2014.
“As a commissioner on the water commission, Mayor Murphy was well-prepared, and always willing to cooperate with the goals of the DuPage Water Commission,” said Rathje, who later chaired the commission’s board and served alongside Murphy.
Murphy chose not to seek reelection as mayor in 2013.
“I have been witness to the tremendous achievements of all facets of our community,” Murphy said in his final State of the Village address in March 2013, according to a Tribune article. “I am proud that we are home to major national corporations, while placing every bit as much emphasis on our small businesses.”
On Friday, Woodridge will rename its Village Hall after Murphy.
“It’s our honor to dedicate our building and name it after him,” Cunningham said. “He helped build it. And as mayor, he was called to serve, and it was a higher calling — he was not motivated by anything else but doing good.”
In addition to his wife, Murphy is survived by three daughters, Jennifer Lawson, Lisa Young and Colleen Bosch; a son, Bill; and six grandsons.
Services were held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
