[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DORIS AND IVORY MURPHY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 27, 2005

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to 
pay tribute to two glowing flames that found one another at a young 
age, and have had the fortune of sharing their lives for the last 50 
years.
  Ivory and Doris Murphy are two dear friends of my wife, Emily, and 
me. Our paths first crossed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1962. That 
chance meeting blossomed into a 43-year friendship that has grown 
stronger over time, despite the physical distance that has separated us 
since 1967. Ivory and Doris are a dynamic couple who serve as an 
inspiration to everyone whose lives they touch.
  Both Doris and Ivory grew up in a rural community near Wallace, North 
Carolina. They met in 1953, and two years later were married. Ivory 
enlisted in the Air Force and their life together became an 
extraordinary adventure, which Doris dropped out of Fayetteville State 
University to pursue.
  Shortly after coming to Charleston (South Carolina) Air Force Base, 
from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Doris decided to return to Fayetteville 
State from which she received a degree in education while raising three 
children, Ivory, Jr., Andrea, and Octavius. Ivory's career took them to 
Air Force bases around the world in distant places like Greenland, 
Libya and Thailand.
  In 1977, Ivory retired from the Air Force, and the Murphy family 
settled in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Ivory began a second career with 
Allstate Insurance Co., and Doris devoted herself to a career in 
education working her way up from classroom teacher to principal. In 
1994 Doris was named ``Assistant Principal of the Year'' while serving 
at Spring Creek Elementary School.
  Ivory and Doris' strong foundation in family and faith has sustained 
them through their 50-year marriage. The Murphy's golden anniversary is 
as much a celebration of the institution of marriage as it is this 
couple who set the standard for so many around them.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me today in honoring 
a couple that has persevered throughout a lifetime of joys and 
adversities. Their dignity, grace and love after 50 years together are 
an inspiration for all of us.

                          ____________________