William Joseph Murphy, 62, saloon owner

William Joseph Murphy, 62, of Blue Bell, owner of Billy Murphy's Irish Saloon in East Falls, died of a heart attack Thursday, Dec. 29, while driving to work.

In 1977, Mr. Murphy and his wife, Patricia, sold their car for $2,000 and took out a number of loans to purchase a neighborhood bar, Greeley's Steak & Stein.

It took countless hours of work over a number of years, but he eventually established the atmosphere that he wanted in his "saloonery," his son Bill said.

Customers from any background - iron workers, lawyers, college students - felt welcome, his son said.

Patrons included rowers, Phillies, Flyers and Eagles, basketball coach Speedy Morris, and Ronald D. Castille, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

The "saloonery" was a favorite watering place on St. Patrick's Day, with celebrity guest bartenders such as former Flyers Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, Bob Kelly, and Rick MacLeish.

Every year, The Inquirer reported in 1996, Mr. Murphy perched 30 stuffed three-foot high leprechauns around the bar, hired an Irish band, and gave out green derbies and tiaras to customers.

His mother, Margaret, who regularly provided homemade soups for the bar, made green cream of asparagus soup.

Several times on St. Patrick's Day, according to The Inquirer and confirmed by his son, Mr. Murphy shouted, "Who's Catholic and who's Protestant?" The Catholics got a free shot of Jameson Irish whiskey, distilled in the Republic of Ireland, and the Protestants got a free shot of Bushmills, from Northern Ireland.

Mr. Murphy sponsored Police Athletic League and East Falls Sports Association teams. He was a strong supporter of Roman Catholic High School and St. Bridget's Church in East Falls.

Mr. Murphy was raised by his single mother in the Allegheny West section of Philadelphia and delivered newspapers as a youth.

As an all-Catholic running back and linebacker at Roman Catholic High School, Mr. Murphy was such a ferocious player that his coach told him, "You're not just bad, you're stone bad." The name stuck, and his old football buddies still called him "Stone Bad," his son said.

After graduating from Roman in 1967, Mr. Murphy attended Villanova University on a football scholarship until he injured a knee.

He then worked as a bricklayer, an advance scout for Temple University's football team, and a bartender.

In the summer of 1976, he met Patricia Crumlish in Avalon, N.J. They married in November after an intense courtship. Her father, James C. Crumlish Jr., a Common Pleas Court judge and former district attorney, disapproved of his bartender son-in-law but eventually came around, Bill Murphy said. Judge Crumlish died in 1992.

Mr. Murphy was an energetic father and could often be found at his children's sporting events shouting "Hubba, hubba" and "Oh, baby!"

In addition to his wife, mother, and son, Mr. Murphy is survived by another son, Michael; a daughter, Kathleen Gray; a brother; a sister; and two grandchildren.

Friends may call from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, and from 8:30 a.m., followed by a Funeral Mass at 10, Wednesday, Jan. 4, at St. Helena's Church, 1489 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.