Frederick Parks “Fred” Murphy of Madison died Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at Connecticut Hospice in Branford after a brief illness. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, son of Frederick P. and Mary A. Murphy.

Fred attended Harvard College, Class of 1947. He worked at Pratt Read in Ivoryton and Yale University.

He married Pauline Cairns in 1955 and spent most of his life in Madison, where he served on numerous town committees including the Board of Finance and the Charlotte Evarts Archives. He was a former president of the Madison Historical Society and, for many years, volunteered at the Yale Art Gallery. He was an avid genealogist and loved gardening, reading, doing crossword puzzles, and an extra dry gin martini.

Fred is survived by his wife of 67 years; his daughter, Elizabeth (Jeffrey) Brown of Boston; his sons, Sandy (Nancy Aronoff) of Fairfield, and Tom (Jennifer Russo) of Clinton; and grandchildren, Harrison, Griffin, Cordelia, and Laurel Murphy of Fairfield. He is also survived by his four sisters, Nancy Byxbee, Mary Lou Stephanak, Eleanor Workman and her husband Joseph, and Emma Jane Burns; many nieces and nephews; and his brother-in-law, Robert Cairns and his wife Nancy.

A family service will be held later in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to the Madison Historical Society or the Charlotte Evarts Archives. Arrangements are with the Hawley Lincoln Memorial, Guilford.