Mary Ellen Stidham

Mary Ellen (Murphy) Stidham, 49, of Bartow, died Sunday, Feb. 17, in Memorial Hospital of Tampa of respiratory failure. She was the wife of Jeffrey W. Stidham and the mother of Susan Murphy Stidham. Born in Worcester, Mass., the daughter of Eleanor D. (Megale) Murphy and Owen J. Murphy Jr., she was graduated from Notre Dame Academy, Worcester, St. Michael’s College in Vermont and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A former reporter on The Catholic Free Press, Worcester, and The Tampa Tribune, she had been communications director for the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research in Bartow for the last 14 years. Active in a variety of causes, she was a board member of the Polk County Arts Alliance and the Greater Bartow Chamber of Commerce and had been a board member of the Bartow Memorial Hospital Foundation. She was also a member of the parish council of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Bartow, and was deeply involved in the parish’s religious education program. In addition to her husband, daughter and parents, she leaves a sister, Elizabeth A. Murphy, of Boston, two brothers, Owen J. and Michael J. Murphy, both of Worcester, seven nieces and nephews and many cousins in New England and the Great Northwest. Calling hours at the Whidden-McLean Funeral Home, 650 East Main Street, Bartow 33830, will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Thomas Aquinas Church at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 22. Burial will be in St. John Cemetery, Worcester, at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Mary Ellen’s name to the building fund of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1305 East Mann Road, Bartow, Fla. 33830, to the Ronald McDonald House Charities or to the All Children’s Hospital Foundation, St. Petersburg, Fla,. Condolences to family at www.whiddenmcleanfuneralhome.com