Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Delhomme Funeral Home for Roy D. Murphy, 68, who died Tuesday in Lafayette.
He was educated in his home state and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio. He completed additional work at both Ohio State University and LSU. He established the department of speech in 1940 and quickly built a national reputation for the school with an outstanding forensic trem. He served as department head from the inception of the department until his retirement in 1977. Professor Murphy's professional accomplishments were legion, including various offices in more than eight national, state and regional speech associations. He was the founder of the Louisiana Speech Association, which honored him for leadership and accomplishments in 1967. He founded the L.S.A. Professional Conference and Speech Festival in 1952. He also served as governor of the Lower Mississippi Province, vice president and president of Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Society. He was an executive councilman, vice president and president of the Southern Speech Communication Association. He belonged to numerous honorary organizations including Phi Kappa Phi National Scholastic Fraternity and Blue Key Honor Society. He was president of the USL Academic Discussion Group and parliamentarian for the Faculty Senate. He was a contributor to The Southern Speech Journal, The Forensic Speech Activities, The Debaters Magazine and the LSU Newsletter. His biography appeared in Who's Who in American, Who's Who in the South, and Southeast, Who's Who in American Education, Directory of American Scholars, Leaders in the Humanities in America, and Dictionary of American Biography.
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| Jane & Patsy Murphy |