On March 18th, 2023 the world lost a truly amazing lady named Ellen Kathryn McKelvey Murphy.

An accomplished artist, rancher, wife, sister, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother it seemed as if there wasn't a subject in which she did not excel. First born to Thomas and Bee McKelvey in 1930, she was older sister to Jimmy, Sheila, Lenore and Patrick.

Growing up in the heart of the Great Depression would leave a permanent impression on Ellen. Nothing was ever wasted or discarded unnecessarily. Hard work was the only solution to build a successful life. A life she practiced for 92 years.

Her watercolor paintings include a wide range of subjects from landscapes to still life. Often while travelling she would stop to take pictures of a barn or fall colors for later interpretation into wonderful paintings worthy of any gallery.

She enjoyed working in stained glass as well, from small hummingbirds to full size window installations. She was quite happy to have helped in some of the restoration of the stained glass windows in the Cathedral of St. Helena as well.

One of the highlights of her life was a trip to Ireland with her son John and her sister Lenore to tour Ireland and get to know and visit her Irish relatives.

Ellen was married to Earl G. Murphy on April 15th, 1947. Starting their life together living in Carroll Village in Helena, they were able to raise five boys, work jobs in the city and develop a ranching operation in the Helena valley. This is where mom really excelled. Ellen & Earl enjoyed participating in farm related activities and Ellen spent many years as secretary to the local county Farm Bureau Board.

Spending much of her childhood on the family ranch near Augusta, she developed a lifelong love of the ranching life. As the years passed the amount of knowledge she possessed on subjects from pulling a calf to what type of alfalfa the farm should use were matched by few. When one of her sons would come to her for advice about a sick calf she would dig through the years of learning and seemingly without fail, come up with a solution to keep that calf alive and well. Her expertise and presence in the corral will be forever missed.

Raising five sons, Mike, Terry, John, Randy and Mark, while working, growing a ranching operation and living a full successful life is a feat of strength that few care to attempt. Luckily, her children were extremely well behaved and never caused any trouble! All stories you may hear otherwise are probably huge embellishments of actual events.

One of her greatest joys, Gramma Ellen was always happy to see and visit with her many Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Ellen is survived by her sons Michael (Jeanne), John, William (aka Randy) (Crystal), and Mark; daughter-in-law Lynda Murphy; Grandchildren Jason (Cindy) Murphy, Lance (Jayla) Murphy, Tracey (Jeremy) Wareham, Cole (Amanda) Murphy, Katie Murphy, Kaycee Murphy, William (Danielle) Murphy, Christopher Murphy, Trever (Cherron) Murphy; Great Grandchildren Jasmyn and Jacob Murphy, Taylor and Easton Murphy, Kinden, Branson, Jayzik and Adasyn Wareham, Kaleb and Cora Murphy, Willow and Ronin Murphy, Keegan, Bailey and Madison Murphy, Kendall and Cassie Nalto; Sisters Sheila McKelvey Dietzen and Lenore McKelvey Puhek; Brother Patrick (Judy) McKelvey and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ellen was preceded in death by her brother Jimmie, parents Thomas and Bee McKelvey, husband Earl and son Terry.

A funeral mass will be held at the Cathedral of St. Helena at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, followed by a reception in the lower level of the cathedral.