Thomas James Murphy

Thomas James Murphy departed at his home in Baltimore, MD on August 27, 2026 after a very short illness. Brother, radio operator, physicist, husband, father, sailor, this lover of a good pun will be sorely missed, most keenly by his wife of 58 years.

Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, NY he grew up the middle of three boys, living with their parents and grandmother, who's Irish brogue he imitated in his early years. He attended Regis High School and remained an active alumnus throughout his life. He received his first degree in physics from Fordham University in 1963. He then went on for doctorate work at Rockefeller University, where he met his wife, Angela, who had also grown up in Brooklyn. They moved together to New Haven for his post-doctoral work at Yale, and the birth of their first daughter, Rosa. Then came a job teaching physics in the Chemistry department at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he spent the remainder of his career, rising to serve as Dean of Students for the department. A few years into his tenure at Maryland came the birth of their younger daughter, Elizabeth.

The early years with his family were school, work, and summer camping trips where Tom would sit by the fire, reach back and re-tell stories from Ireland that he'd heard from his grandmother. There were monthly trips back to Brooklyn, and Tom became an integral part of his wife's family in addition to his own.

After his girls left for college he followed his own interests, taking sailing courses with the Coast Guard, and becoming an active member of the NIH Sailing Association through Angela, who worked at NIH. For more than 15 years he spent the whole season on the water. He crewed for dozens of races, skippered Flying Scots in regattas (winning one), served on race committees, and taught sailing to others.

He got his first radio operator's license in 1960 and always had a short wave set up at home. During an open house on the John W Brown liberty ship in Baltimore, he discovered that the original radio on the ship was non-functional, and figured he knew just what to do. That was the start of his countless hours of volunteering on the Brown, including the rebuilding of the radio and the replacement of the degaussing cable.

A Style Invitational Loser, he loved intellectual humor, Gilbert & Sullivan (even though he couldn’t sing), sailing, and birdwatching. He worried about his wife’s health more than his own, never thought he saw enough of his kids, always wanted to create and solve good puzzles, and saw sarcasm as art.

He is survived by his wife, Angela, daughters Rosa and Elizabeth (Liz), sons-in-law John Williams and Brian Dalton, and Brian’s children Will and Lucy.

Donations in his name can be made to the John W Brown at ssjohnwbrown.org