Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home

Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home was founded in 1903 and was located in downtown Phoenix. Originally called Easterling and Whitney Undertakers and Embalmers, the business also operated a livery stable as was common with old frontier undertakers. The Murphy family involvement began in 1912 when Mr. Tom Whitney hired a young widow, Mary Frances Murphy, who was the first female licensed funeral director in Arizona. Her son W. L. “Bill” Murphy began working at the firm in the early 1920’s when he too became a licensed funeral director. During the great depression when a quarter of the nation was unemployed, the funeral home was threatened by insolvency. However the funeral home continued to provide service to all families regardless of their ability to pay thereby building a foundation of trust and integrity that has followed Whitney & Murphy all these years. Bill Murphy and Tom Whitney helped establish what is known today as the Arizona Funeral Directors Association