From the Archives

In this time of pandemic, recalling the Influenza of 1918 seems appropriate, especially the contributions of one particular priest, Father Timothy Murphy, O.S.B. The Orphans’ Record, the diocesan news publication of the era, describes Father Murphy thusly: “Father Murphy was endowed with an intelligent and progressive mind. He possessed many qualities, which won for him the affection and devotion of a very large circle of friends and acquaintances. As a priest, pastor or teacher, he was faithful to his duties, active and enterprising.”
 
Obviously gifted, he served as the first resident pastor of Saint John Church in McAlester from 1908-1911. He was part of the organizing of the Catholic University of Oklahoma (later Saint Gregory’s) in Shawnee. He taught English and public speaking as well as his administrative role.
 
Feeling the call to minister to the troops with the coming of American participation in the First World War in 1917, he became the Knights of Columbus chaplain in September at Camp Donifan, established between Fort Sill and Lawton. Father Murphy shared all the hardships of camp life with the men of the 128 ^th machine gun battalion, enduring a severe winter and all the privations and discomforts of this new mode of existence.
 
On Feb. 12, he was commissioned a first lieutenant and officially an army chaplain. He had suffered a bout with La Grippe (the influenza) and felt well enough to return to duty full of optimism. Unfortunately, his optimism was short-lived. The illness returned with a vengeance and, contracting pneumonia, he declined rapidly. Receiving the final sacraments after a visit from Bishop Meerschaert, he finally succumbed. He was the first U.S. chaplain to die during the First World War.
 
Father Murphy was part of the first wave of the flu to hit the country in the Spring of 1918. The second wave in the Fall was more deadly. All told, 675,000 Americans perished. More soldiers died from the disease than killed in battle.
 
As for Father Murphy, the Orphans’ Record states, “While chaplain, he not only looked after the spiritual welfare of the men, but was one of them, associating with them, playing games with them and doing all in his power to make them better men, both morally and physically. For them he sacrificed his time, his rest, and his life.”
 
His example of courage and dedication to duty resonates with the current situation we now face as a Church and country.