Spencer A. Murphy Jr., former head of Bishop Trust Co. Ltd., died Monday; however, memories from his illustrious life remain.

The 93-year-old Murphy, who died at his home on Monday, had the kind of work ethic that compelled him to visit his office into his 90s. However, friends and family said that he always had time to play a game of dominoes or offer someone a kind word.

Born on Dec. 3, 1914 in Erie, Pa., Murphy came to Honolulu as a teenager. He initially was on a boat bound for China, but when a shipping strike stranded him in Hawaii, it became his paradise.

“;He was just a young man on an adventure,”; said his daughter, Catherine Ballard. “;He was a very self-determined, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps person. He came with just the clothes on his back and little else; he was a real self-made man.”;

In 1936, five years after coming to Hawaii, Murphy began working for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Lithograph Co. By 1946 he had worked his way up from the mailroom to assistant treasurer and personnel director, Ballard said.

While at the Star-Bulletin, Murphy was loaned out to the Contractors, a group of five companies that was building naval bases in the Pacific area. In 1941 he joined the U.S. Navy as a supply officer at Pearl Harbor. During his military career, he reached the rank of lieutenant commander and participated in the Battle of Midway.

Murphy relocated to Chicago in 1951 to take a job as a trust officer at Northern Trust Co. and to pursue an MBA at the University of Chicago. In 1961 he moved to the Bay Area where he managed the trust department of Pacific National Bank of San Francisco.

Murphy came back to Hawaii and joined the Bishop Trust Co., where he was named president and chief executive in 1967. Among his work contemporaries, Murphy is most remembered for his contributions toward the revitalization of downtown Honolulu. He participated in the construction of the Bishop Trust Building at 1000 Bishop St., which was at that time the tallest building in downtown Honolulu. In 1981 Spencer became a corporate consultant after Bishop Trust merged with Crocker National Corp.

Among his friends, Murphy is most remembered for his killer dominoes game and his quick intelligence, said Ray Dix, whom Murphy recruited and brought to Bishop Trust Co. in 1977.

Not to mention his peculiar preference for apple pie topped with chocolate ice cream, Dix added.

“;He was not only a good friend, but he was an excellent mentor,”; Dix said. “;I admired him for his strong convictions. He said keep trying and never give up. He was always upbeat and positive and willing to be there for anyone that needed him.”;

Murphy also shaped Honolulu's social clubs, said Peter Howell, Murphy's friend and attorney. Murphy was one of the first junior members of the Pacific Club and a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club, Howell said.

“;Sometimes we talked business. He was a real go-getter but mostly we played dominoes,”; Howell said. “;For 15 years we played dominoes on Thursday afternoons. He would win 50 percent of the time, and I would win the other.”;

A memorial service for Murphy will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Ultimate Cremation Services of Hawaii in Nuuanu.

Murphy is survived by wife Mitzi Lee Murphy, sister Catherine Smitti, son Christopher Murphy, daughter Catherine Ballard and three grandsons: Brandon, Matthew and Brian Murphy. He is also survived by stepdaughter Kathleen Shea, her daughter Angela Krakora and her children, Wally and Meagan.