Sister Agnes Jerome Murphy decided to use a spare classroom for mentally challenged children before any government agency required it. SISTER AGNES JEROME MURPHY / 1913-2002
Nun spearheaded efforts
to help mentally challenged kids
See also: Obituaries
By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.comIt was a decade before Congress mandated that states provide such an opportunity and a generation before the federal court's Felix consent decree forced the Hawaii public school system to comply.
"She was a very visionary person, she was a pioneer," said Waynette Cabral, executive administrator of the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities. "She described them as the kids that nobody wanted. She never turned down anyone."
The unique class Murphy created at Star of the Sea Catholic School in 1965 grew into the Special Education Center of Hawaii on Diamond Head Road. It had 290 adults enrolled in education and training programs when she retired as executive director in 1997. The nonprofit center merged earlier this year with Easter Seals Hawaii, creating an organization with an annual budget of $13 million and more than 300 employees.
Murphy died Oct. 7 at her Honolulu residence at the age of 89. She was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and this year celebrated the 70th anniversary of her religious vows. Born in Worcester, Mass., in 1913, she taught in Massachusetts and California before coming to Hawaii in 1950. She taught eighth grade at the Kahala school before founding the Special Education Center.
The Catholic nun was a familiar figure at the state Legislature in the 1970s and 1980s as she lobbied successfully for support of the pioneer program. "She saw that the need was always increasing," said Cabral. "Sister was so determined. For her, 'no' was not an answer. She was always successful in getting grant money, that's how she obtained the Diamond Head land. She was a strong-willed woman."
Even as administrator, Murphy was on a first-name basis with the clients as she strolled the campus, always in the company of her three dogs -- Yorkshire terriers and a poodle. "She was always going into classrooms, always asking personnel what more can we do, there is still more to be done. I learned well from her," said Cabral, who formerly worked as a social worker at the center.
When it was built, "the center was considered state of the art," said Cabral. After the state was mandated through the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide public education for mentally challenged children, the focus of the center changed. It provided adult vocational training, and more recently was a senior center for people with Alzheimer's and dementia. It also worked with the state Health and Human Services departments to provide case management for medically fragile children.
Murphy served for several years on the Hawaii State Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities and was a member of the International Society of Women Educators.
"She stepped in and did some courageous work that no one else, including the church, was putting energy into," said Honolulu Catholic diocese spokesman Patrick Downes. "She was quite a lady, strong willed and independent, helping people who no one else wanted to care for." Downes said that, days before her death, Murphy had mailed holy cards to Bishop Francis DiLorenzo and himself.
A memorial Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Star of the Sea Church.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, 14800 Bohlman Road, Saratoga, CA 95070.
