Anna Rose Murphy of Sag Harbor and East Hampton Remembered

On May 22, 2015, Anna Rose Murphy, 37, of Sag Harbor and East Hampton, died suddenly at home in Flanders. She was 37.

Anna was a lifelong resident of the East End of Long Island and is missed and loved by many, her family said. She grew up in Sag Harbor residing with her mother Mary Jane (Cissy) Benkoczy (aka Mary J. Murphy) and sister Tonia White.

She attended Sag Harbor Elementary School and graduated from Pierson High School. At the age of 17, she lost her mother due to chronic illness. She then moved to East Hampton to reside with her father, the late Henry Francis Murphy (aka Rick), who was the executive editor of The Independent newspaper.

Upon graduating from Pierson High School, she moved to Oswego to pursue a bachelor’s degree in education. She graduated and started working as a teacher with children of low-income families through Head Start in Suffolk County, from 2005-2012.

She was survived by her sister, Tonia White of Lake Butler, Florida; an aunt, Phyllis (Murphy) Howell (Robert) of Brooklyn; and an uncle Michael Benkoczy Jr. (Jean) of Ft. White, Florida.

According to Michael Benkoczy Jr., her ashes were spread at Barcelona Point in Sag Harbor in a private ceremony shortly after her passing by her father, the late Henry F. Murphy. Anna had spent summers there with her family as a child and her mother’s ashes had been spread there as well.

The family is planning a memorial for October of this year.