Dr. Owen L. Murphy Apartments

Independent Living for Seniors & Social Security Disabled

 

          

 

The Dr. Owen L. Murphy Apartments are garden-style apartments designed for unassisted, independent living for people age 62 and over or for those receiving Social Security Disability. A lovely Community Building features a fireplace, laundry facility and a library. The Community Building is also used by residents for social activities, holiday parties, and a monthly wellness clinic. In the warm weather, residents gather in the two gazebos to visit with neighbors. Rent subsidies may be available for those who qualify. 

Simsbury’s Best Kept Secret

Dr. Owen L. Murphy History

Dr. Murphy was born on March 3, 1898 in Boston, MA. He grew up in Poultney, VT before moving to Simsbury, CT in 1923. He was an Army veteran of WWI, a graduate of Troy Conference Academy and the University of Vermont Medical School class of 1921. He did graduate work and served his internship at Brown University and served his residency at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT. He was a physician in Simsbury, CT for over 50 years and served as medical examiner, coroner and health officer for several towns, companies and schools in CT before his retirement at age 74. In 1923, as a young surgeon, he introduced hot and cold water therapy and fever injections at a mental hospital in Providence, RI. In 1941, he was the first man to introduce penicillin in Connecticut. This Country Doctor treated President William Taft at Simsbury House and exchanged boyhood tales of Vermont with President Calvin Coolidge. During prohibition, he was usually sworn in as a deputy sheriff so he could "be around to sew up gunshop wounds when the drinkers met the federal men." Dr. Murphy married the late Catherine Sweeney of Canaan, CT (died 1972) and together they had 3 children, the late Mary Ellen Cormier of Winsted, CT (born 10-15-1930 died 9-4-1987), the late Owen P. Murphy of Simsbury, CT (born 1-15-32, died 2-10-2006) and Catherine Geiger of Otis, MA and Marco Island, Florida and 11 grandchildren. After his retirement in 1972, Dr. Murphy lived with his daughter, Mary Ellen Cormier and her 9 children in Winsted, CT until his death, March 16, 1981 at the age of 83 years.