Charlene Murphy

Charlene Murphy
December 26, 1928 - April 4, 2016

Charlene Inez Murphy, 87, of Algona and formerly of Oelwein passed away on Monday April 4, 2016 at the Good Samaritan Society in Algona. Memorial services will begin at 11 AM on Monday, June 27, 2016 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oelwein with visitation that same morning from 9-10:30 AM at the Geilenfeld Funeral Home in Oelwein. Inurnment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery at Oelwein. Memorials may be directed to the family.

Charlene was born in Oelwein on December 26, 1928, the daughter of Lloyd and Luella (Stoddard) Payne. She grew up in the Oelwein area graduating from Oelwein High School in 1947. On May 31, 1958 she was united in marriage with Norbert F. Murphy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oelwein. They had two children, Lynn and Kevin. Charlene worked at the City Water Department and later as a secretary for an insurance company.

Charlene and Norbie loved to travel and following retirement, they took a trip to Ireland. Charlene also enjoyed gardening and tending to her flowers. She did yard work, mowed and shoveled until she was 80. She also loved to read, but her greatest pleasure was her family.

Charlene was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Loyal StarLodge and the American Legion Auxiliary. She will be dearly missed by all.

Left to celebrate Charlene’s life is her daughter Lynn (Jim) McMahon of Algona and their children: Michael and Ryan; her son Kevin (Molly) Murphy of White Bear Lake, MN and their children: Erin and Brian. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.

Add Comment

Linda Payne Smith on April 10, 2018 at 9:37 AM said:

Charlene was my first cousin and through my lifetime my family visited hers in Oelwein. My father, George Payne, was her uncle and he once lived across the street from Charlene's house with our grandparents, Maggie and Seldon Payne. My sister Gail was born in Oelwein and Mom and Dad lived with them for a short while. In later years, my mother Leona Diercks Payne and I always travelled to Iowa and stayed with Charlene who welcomed us with open arms. She was such a kind person and very knowledgeable about the family from Oelwein and could tell me stories about our grandparents that we loved to hear. Charlene was such a good person, gracious, friendly and giving. I will always remember her and am thankful that I got to know her over the years as adults.

Ida Kemmerer Schmadeke on June 26, 2016 at 6:42 PM said:

Shosh and I grew up in same neighborhood and went all thru school and graduated together. I was 2 mos older than Her.
We played together as children and it was always a joke between us that I won all of her marbles one time. When my Mom died several years back we took her to Oelwein to be buried in the family plot (she was living near me in Cedar Falls, Iowa when she died) When we arrived at Woodlawn for Mom's graveside service there stood Norb and Shosh to greet us and it was heartwarming. When I was a kid at home Norm was our paper boy. They were a neat couple and I am happy they are now together again.

Tammi Aldrich on June 24, 2016 at 12:39 PM said:

Our condolences to the family. We lived across the street from Charlene for many years. Every Halloween she would bring a treat over for our 2 boys telling them she wouldn't answer the door for Trick-or-Treaters, but wanted the boys to have a treat from her.

She was a sweet lady and we encouraged her to come over if she needed anything since she lived alone. One time, I helped her try to get a bat out of the attic. She ended up calling the city to get it because we couldn't find it.

In the wintertime she would be out shoveling her driveway and sidewalk and she would grudgingly give in to let Les use the snowblower on it.

We hated to see her move, but she was closer to family that way. We will always have sweet memories of Charlene!

Michelle Stasi Moran on June 24, 2016 at 8:53 AM said:

Your mom was the sweetest lady. Always remember her beautiful flowers and had such a gentle way about her. Your dad and her was such a great couple.

Add Comment

Geilenfeld-Buehner Funeral Home

309 1st Avenue NE | Oelwein, IA 50662 | Phone: 319.283.4653

We welcome your comments and feedback about our website!
Click here to send us your comments