Christina Rice Murphy

Frankfort – Christina Rice Murphy, age 70, passed away to Paradise on October 2, 2024, where she is now with Jesus (Luke 23: 43). She was born at King’s Daughters Hospital in Frankfort, KY on November 10, 1953, to Clifton Albert and Sally Ward Clark Rice. She and her brother and two sisters grew up on the family farm on Indian Gap Road, with her maternal grandparents and many cousins close by. She went every week with her family to the Swallowfield Church of Christ, where she accepted Jesus as her Savior. She continued to be a faithful churchgoer her entire life, and it was one of the most valuable and bedrock foundations for her. She attended Peaks Mill Elementary School in Peaks Mill, and Franklin County High School, where she graduated in 1971 as Valedictorian of her class. The summer following her graduation Christina worked for the Kentucky Division of Disability Determination. In the fall of 1971, she enrolled at David Lipscomb College (the college her mother had attended) in Nashville, Tennessee and attended there from 1971 – December 1974 in pursuit of a BS degree in Physics (the same degree of her father). She met her first husband there (Barry Kelly) and she left Lipscomb before graduating to operate with her husband a half-way house in East Nashville for ex-convicts. They left Nashville and moved to Frankfort to be closer to her family. At that time, she worked for the Kentucky Department of Transportation. After her divorce, she was awarded a fellowship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville. She began her master’s degree program there, subsequently graduating with a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering Science. While attending the university she met and married Charles Richard Neff (Rick). During the several years she spent in Florida she worked for an environmental engineering firm, the Water Management Districts in Palatka and Lake City, a statistical consulting firm, and the University of Florida Dept of Agricultural Engineering. After several years in Florida, they moved back to Frankfort and Christina worked for the Kentucky Division for Air Quality. She was divorced from Rick, built a house on Indian Gap Road, and worked a few more years for Kentucky state government. In her last few years of employment and after retirement, she became interested in the Clark family history and the history of Owen County, where the Clarks first settled in Kentucky. She researched and compiled an invaluable wealth of information about her Clark ancestors, which she freely shared with her family. She joined the Owen County Historical Society and became very active in that organization, serving on the Board of Directors, working in their museum, and improving and maintaining their website. She also located several cemeteries in Owen County where her Clark ancestors are buried, and instituted, oversaw, and participated in their rehabilitation and maintenance. In 2017 she was the editor of a publication of the Historical Society, Reflections of a Riverman: A Collection of the Writings of Charles Johnson 1896 – 1969, and co-authored and published with Bonnie Strassell the book, 1812 Kentuck Is Coming. During her genealogical research she began a close cooperation with her cousin in Owen County, Margaret Alice (Karsner) Murphy, who at 99 years was still doing historical research. Christina met Margeret’s son, Jim (James Karsner Murphy) and that led to their marriage. Her last years, before her sickness, were lived happily with Jim and their hound Sadie on Point of Rock Road, boating and fishing the Kentucky River, visiting every day with her mother, and continuing her historical research activities. Jim preceded her in death. She is survived by her siblings, all of Frankfort: Stephen Patrick Rice (Martha), Amy Louise Smith (Lenn), Rebecca Lynn Allen (Jimmy); nieces and nephews: Molly Rice, Mandy Bitting (Brian), Selena Curry (Jonathan), Andrew Smith (Molly), Amy Marie Carrico (Perry), Katie Hazelwood (Allen), Jenny Owens (David), Mindy Stratton (Dale); and numerous great and great great nieces and nephews. A very special thank you from the Rice family goes to Heart To Heart Senior Care, and Bluegrass Hospice Care for their care of Christina. Serving as pallbearers will be Johnathan Samuel Moore, Jonathan Curry, Grant Lacy, Robert Hutchinson, Brice McCane, Dale Stratton, David Owens, and Allen Hazelwood. Visitation will be from 4 -7 p.m. on Friday at New Funeral Home, 202 N. Main Street, Owenton and on Saturday from 10-11 a.m. at Swallowfield Church of Christ. 13793 Swallowfield Road, Frankfort, with the funeral service following at 11 a.m. Burial will be at Peaks Mill Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of New Funeral Home.