Gerald Joseph “Joey” Murphy

Glace Bay, N.S.

Nov. 3rd,1957 - Dec. 8th,2025

It is with profound sadness and broken hearts we announce the peaceful passing of our father, Joe, in his home in Bridgeport, surrounded by family. He was the son of the late Daniel and Shirley Murphy of Reserve Mines.

Joey is survived by his four children, Ryan (New Brunswick), Brittany (Dr. Robert McFadgen whom he considered another son since day one), Maine, Jordan, Jeffrey, and the pride and joy of his life, his grandsons Colson and Connell (McFadgen). He is also survived by his sister Crystal (Jamie), brother Gordon, brothers-in-law Danny, Glenn (Sandra). Also survived by many nieces and nephews including special girls, Maddy and Alivia.

Along side his parents Joe was predeceased by brothers Wendal “Cooke,” Darren, sister Cheryl, granddaughter Haven, and the love of his life and high school sweetheart, and wife Dolores.

Joe grew up in Reserve and lived there until early adulthood. He had many odd jobs growing up and graduated from Vocational School as an electrician in ‘74. The following year he took his first mining position as an electrician at 1B Mine. He soon transferred to “The Wall.” Later in his mining career he worked at Lingan Mine, where he experienced his first major accident. He transferred to Prince Mine for a period of time and then worked at Phalen Colliery Mine where he experienced two more mining accidents including one where he was trapped underground for 30+ hours. After leaving Phalen, he returned to Prince Mine and was one of the last 13 men to come up underground from Prince Mine in 2001.

Although our father was mostly known for being a miner, Dad was involved in much more over the years. He was part of the Reserve Volunteer Fire Department; coached Reserve little league; worked at Shibinette’s building supplies when he wasn’t underground; was a member of the DEVCO Colliery Hockey League; but what he was most proud of was being a member of the “Mine Rescue Dragger Team”, where they won numerous awards and travelled all over Canada for their achievements. Dad was also Deputy Governor of Kinsman in the Maritime Region and President of the Glace Bay Chapter. He helped coach Glace Bay little league and Glace Bay minor hockey during Ryan’s involvement over the years. Dad was also on the board of the Glace Bay Food Bank where he dedicated his time planning fundraisers. In his retirement years, he enjoyed driving cab for both Bud’s and Sonny’s taxi and made many friends along the way.

To say our Dad was a great man is an understatement. He was our big, strong protector that could fix any problem any of us had. He was our rational voice when we didn’t know how to handle a situation. He was the person we all turned to for advice, and he was the one to keep us all in check during the most trying times in our lives, because “family is everything” and all other problems are “not a big deal.” He made sure we never hung up the phone without saying “I love you.”

We would like to send out a special thank you to all the homecare providers that frequented dad’s home. To all the wonderful nurses and doctors at the Sydney Regional Hospital and Glace Bay General Hospital. A very special thank you to Dr. Carol Boutilier for her kind visits and check ins that always brought a smile to dad’s face.

Visitation will be held in T. J. Tracey Cremation and Burial Specialists, 370 Reserve St., Glace Bay. 902-849-4199, on Monday,December 29, 2025, from 11:00am - 1:00pm followed by the Funeral Service.

Words of comfort may be expressed to the family of the late Gerald “Joey” Murphy by visiting our website at www.tjtracey.com.