Portland native and former Olympian Maureen Elizabeth Murphy died unexpectedly early last week at her home in Lake Oswego. She was 79. The apparent cause of death was a heart attack.

Maureen was born March 23, 1939, in Portland, the daughter of Gertrude Keber Murphy and Cornelius Murphy. She grew up in the Laurelhurst neighborhood and attended All Saints Catholic School. After graduating from Holy Child Academy, she attended Oregon State University and Portland State University, earning a Bachelor’s in secondary education.

A world-class swimmer, Maureen trained in her youth and teen years at the Northeast YMCA in Hollywood and the Multnomah Athletic Club in downtown Portland, where she remained an active lifetime member. Swimming for the MAC, she won the AAU national championship in the 200-yard backstroke in 1955, earning All-America honors and qualifying for the U.S. exhibition team that competed in Europe and the Middle East that year. She represented the United States again in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, placing 5th in the 100-meter backstroke. She was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

After retiring from competitive swimming, Maureen taught at Air Force bases in Pirmasens and Kaiserslautern, Germany, before returning home to teach in the Portland public schools and at her alma mater, All Saints. She worked as a salesperson for IBM in Reno, Atlanta, and Portland and for the Halton Company in Portland. In her later years, she was a Realtor.

Maureen was an active and devout member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Lake Oswego, serving as both an usher and a Eucharistic minister. An avid reader, she belonged to several parish-based book clubs. She remained a dedicated swimmer throughout her life. Maureen- known to her friends as “Mo”- loved to travel, especially in Europe, and had particularly fond memories of trips to Italy and France.

She is survived by her brothers, Neil Murphy of Branson, Mo., and Monsignor Timothy J. Murphy of Portland; her longtime companion, Doug Bollam of Portland; and extended family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and by her sister, Jean Ann.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, February 2, 2019, at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 790 A Avenue, Lake Oswego, OR 97034. All are welcome. Private interment will take place at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Maureen Murphy Memorial Scholarship at Central Catholic High School, 2401 S.E. Stark St., Portland, OR 97214.

In addition, you are gratefully asked to keep Maureen, Neil, Monsignor Murphy and the extended family in your prayers.