Richard Murphy never met his namesake but Murphy bore a broad smile Tuesday as his grandfather was honored for his service as a Detroit firefighter.
Murphy and other family members attended a memorial ceremony to remember the city's fallen firefighters but also to hang plaques bearing their pictures on a wall on the second floor of the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters near downtown Detroit. Murphy's grandfather, also named Richard Murphy, died in 1923 from meningitis that the family suspects he contracted as a result of a cold he caught while working. The firefighter, who was 35, left behind a widow who was six months pregnant and four children, one of which was Richard Murphy's father.
Richard Murphy's name was among the 208 read inside an auditorium where a ceremony was held to honor Detroit's firefighters.