Centenary University first lady laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
Funeral service accorded full military honors to U.S. Army Colonel Jeanne Picariello Murphy, who served in the military for three decades.
HACKETTSTOWN, NJ (Warren County) — U.S. Army Colonel Jeanne Picariello Murphy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on April 12 alongside her parents and grandparents, who are also interred there.
Colonel Murphy was accorded full military honors, reflecting her 30 years of distinguished service.
First Lady of Centenary University and the wife of President Bruce Murphy, Ed.D., Colonel Murphy was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene while on her morning walk on Saturday, Jan. 7, at around 7:30 a.m., on Reese Ave near First Ave.
She was transported to Hackettstown Medical Center and then flown to Morristown Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on Sunday at 12:00 p.m., police said.
The driver of the vehicle, Jefferson Chimbo-Pelaez, 25, from Hackettstown was later charged and lodged in the Warren County Correctional Facility, police said.
Colonel Murphy’s years of service were decorated with many medals, including the Legion of Merit (awarded three times), Defense Meritorious Service Medal (awarded two times), and the Army Meritorious Service Medal (awarded three times).
During her military career, she served with distinction in many leadership posts spanning the United States and abroad, including Europe, Latin America, South Korea, and the Middle East. An Army nurse, Colonel Murphy was the chief of health promotion for the U.S. Southern Command in Panama and spearheaded Army health, wellness, and support programs in Germany, Virginia, in the Pentagon, and at the Army War College. During and after the Gulf War, Colonel Murphy worked with combat troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq.
Before retiring from the military in 2001, Colonel Murphy was given oversight of the military’s program for world-class athletes, a task that placed her on the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Board of Directors and as chair of the USOC Multi-Sport Organizations Council for 10 years. For the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, she was designated Chef de Mission for the U.S. Paralympic Team.
