Meet Our Caring Staff
Known for professional, courteous, and compassionate service, we reflect a proud history of service to our community. We have based our exceptional service on each of us being personally and professionally committed to the tradition of providing personal attention to a family's needs and individual wishes. Our personal and professional goal is to satisfy the needs of every family we serve. Our aim is to make all feel comfortable with the arrangements we have handled and the options that they have selected.
So that you might know us a little better, we are glad to provide the following biographies.
Paul L. Murphy
Born and raised in Attica, New York, I am a graduate of the NYS Agriculture and Technical College at Alfred, NY, with an Associate's Degree in Agricultural Business. Honorably discharged from the US Army, I worked as Farm Employment Representative for the NYS Department of Employment in Rochester and Albion. Having a desire to become a funeral director, I graduated from Simmons School of Mortuary Science in 1961. I spent the next several years operating a funeral home and working for a hearse livery service in Western NY, and, in 1968, I purchased the Parker-Rayfield Funeral Home here in Newark.
Active in community service, I have served with a wide range of business, service, and professional organizations. I have been a member and past president of the Newark Lions Club and Newark Chamber of Commerce, and for several years was Chairman of the Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross and a first aid instructor. I was proud to have been the organizational committee forming the Newark-Arcadia Volunteer Ambulance and served as its president for several years. A member of Newark Elks Club and Newark Council of Knights of Columbus, I also had been with the Jaycee's and the Newark Fire Department and committees of the Newark-Wayne Community Hospital and the American Cancer Society. On the professional front, I have also served as President of the Wayne County Funeral Directors Association, Vice President of the Rochester Genesee Valley Funeral Directors Association, Treasurer of the Ontario-Wayne-Yates Funeral Directors Association, and a member of New York State Funeral Directors Association, and the National Funeral Director Association.
My wife Nancy and I live above the funeral home. We are the proud parents of four children, daughter Mary Lynne, sons David P., John F. and William W.
David Murphy
Born in Batavia, New York, I came to Newark with my parents when I was eight months of age. I graduated from Newark High School,Paul Smith College, and New York State University of Forestry in Syracuse with a degree in Environmental Chemistry. I worked as an environmental technician in New Jersey and for several years as a national marine fishery and animal observer on the fishing ships in Alaska.
Growing up at the funeral home, I was always involved in helping my father. I returned home and started working at the funeral home and graduated from Simmons School of Mortuary Science.
I'm an avid hunter and fisherman, active with Ducks Unlimited and their programs. I'm a member of the New York Central Hose Company #5, of the Newark Fire Department, the Newark Rotary, and the Newark Chamber of Commerce. My wife Tracy and I live on Sand Hill Road with her son Zane and a variety of pets.
John Murphy
A native of Newark, I graduated from Newark High School and Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio with a degree in Business Management and Marketing. After college, I worked for Enterprise Car Rental in Ohio for a couple of years and then Paychex in Rochester.
Having grown up helping around the funeral home, I decided to return to the family business, joining in partnership with father Paul and brother David, after graduating from Simmons School of Mortuary Science. Along with my partner, brother William, I operate Newark Granite Works where I am involved in the sale of the memorials as well as the cutting of the stones. I am active with the Newark Elks and the Newark Chamber of Commerce and serve on the Board of Directors of Newark-Wayne Community Hospital. I live with my wife Tere and our two sons John Jr. (Chip) and Ian here in the village.
