Trustee Dies in Germany; Replacement Decision Due

The Orange County Board of Education is expected to decide at a Feb. 26 meeting whether to appoint a new member to replace the late Frances B. Murphy or to call for a special election, Robert Peterson, county superintendent of schools, said Monday.

Mrs. Murphy, 66, of Garden Grove, died suddenly Friday while on a trip to West Germany. She was stricken in her hotel and taken to a hospital in Dusseldorf, where she was pronounced dead of a massive heart attack.

She had served on the five-member Board of Education for the past 8 1/2 years and was reelected to a third four-year term last June.

The remaining four board members have the option of either appointing a temporary successor or calling for an immediate special election to fill the vacancy. In an interview Monday, Peterson said that if the board appoints a new member, the term would extend until the next countywide election in June, 1988. State law also provides that county residents can nullify an appointment by petitioning for an immediate election to fill an education board vacancy.

$50-Million Budget

The county Board of Education controls the $50-million yearly budget for the 700-employee Department of Education. The elected board members thus have an indirect role in running the department, but actual control of the department rests with its chief executive, Peterson.

The little-known department provides classroom services for handicapped students and juvenile offenders referred by the court system. The department also provides administrative and support services for school districts in the county.

Mrs. Murphy, a native of Long Beach and a World War II naval officer, was the first woman to serve as president of the board. She served in that position from June, 1985, until July, 1986.

She represented District 2, the western-coastal region of the county that includes the Los Alamitos Unified and Garden Grove Unified and Cypress, Westminster, Ocean View and Huntington Beach City elementary school districts. Her successor must reside in that area, and if there is a special election, it will be decided by voters in that portion of the county.

Mrs. Murphy and her husband, Thomas, were the founders of the American Host Foundation, a nonprofit education program that arranges for teachers from Western European counties to spend their summer holidays in America.

Mrs. Murphy flew to West Germany last Thursday afternoon, immediately after attending a Board of Education meeting. She arrived in Dusseldorf on Friday and suffered the fatal heart attack a few hours later. She was in West Germany to make arrangements for summer visits of European teachers to America through the foundation.

She is survived by her husband; a son, Michael Murphy, of Irvine; a daughter, Catherine Murphy, of Garden Grove; a sister, Catherine Mamula, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and a grandson, Kyle.

In a statement of mourning, the current Board of Education president, Elizabeth Parker, said: “All of us on the board had tremendous respect and admiration for Frances and are shocked and saddened by this sudden loss to us and to education.”

Peterson said: “Frances Murphy was always willing to set aside her own personal interests in order to give generously of her talent and time for the betterment of students and teachers.”

Private cremation ceremonies were to be held in Dusseldorf, family members said, but a memorial service in Orange County will be held at a date to be announced later this week.