Charles Murphy was born in Holy Family parish during 1889. He was a member of St. Charles Borromeo parish in his youth. He went to St. Charles Borromeo grade school and St. Ignatius high school in Chicago. His seminary training took place at Our Lady of Angels seminary at Niagara Falls, New York. Father Murphy was ordained on June 6, 1914.

The churches that Father Charles Murphy attended as assistant and as a pastor read like a who's who of the finest parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago at the time. After his ordination he moved to Chicago Heights' St. Agnes Church. From there he traveled to St. Gabriel parish (1916-1919), made famous by Father Maurice Dorney. Between 1919 and 1921 he assisted at St. Catherine of Genoa in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. Afterwards, Father Murphy was dispatched to Ascension parish (1921-1927) in Oak Park for his last assistant position.

During Father Murphy's pastorate the Fitzpatrick family, longtime parishioners and supporters of St. Dennis, made a sizable donation to the Archdiocese. "At the Holy Name Society Mass in the cathedral on New Year's Day, 1928, Cardinal Mundelein announced that "a vocation school for boy's who have made a misstep and who deserve another chance" would be built near Lockport, Illinois, and named Holy Name Technical School. The family of Michael Fitzpatrick, who settled in the Lockport area nearly 100 years previously, donated 160 acres of land for the school. Mundelein asked the Holy Name men to raise the funds to build the school, and he planned to have the Catholic Salvage Bureau subsidize its operations and upkeep." [Edward R. Kantowicz. Corporation Sole. Notre Dame, Indiana. 1983, p. 177]

The school project had been in a formative stage since 1916. Many individuals such as Bishop Edward Hoban, Monsignor Thomas Bona, Frederick Massman and Frank Lewis were responsible for the success of the project. With the input of Bishop Bernard Shiel the project acquired a unique mission: "Noting how Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic had captured America's imagination, Sheil conceived of making Holy Name Technical School a school of aeronautics. Its youth would not just learn mechanics, but aircraft mechanics; and a few might receive flight training. When he assumed direct responsibility for the building, after 1928, he pursued this plan." [Edward R. Kantowicz. Corporation Sole. Notre Dame, Indiana. 1983, p.178]

As pastor of St. Dennis Father Murphy found that Lockport was no longer the quiet country village of the 19th century. Industrialization along the Des Plaines valley had brought prosperity to the area. Steel mills, oil refineries and agricultural related business contributed to unprecedented growth - then came "the Crash". The ensuing economic depression effected everyone in some way or another. By a stroke of providence and good planning Father Murphy was able to decrease the parish debt markedly as this malady set in.

Father Murphy was well liked by the parishioners at St. Dennis. The Holy Name Society received tender attention at his hands, as did the other parish organizations. His care for the elderly and infirmed left a lasting impression. His place in the hearts of St. Dennis parishioners was evident when Father Murphy was given the honor of celebrating the centennial Mass in 1946.

From St. Dennis Father Murphy went to the church that Doctor McGovern built, St. Mary's in Lake Forest. He spent the darkest days of the 'Depression', from 1931 until 1941, in Lake Forest. As America entered the Second World War Father Murphy returned to Chicago. At St. Thomas the Apostle parish in the University of Chicago-Hyde Park area Father Murphy assumed what would be his final pastorate. Father Murphy launched a newsletter, "What's My Name", later renamed "The Apostle", dedicated to his parishioners in the armed forces. A holy hour every Sunday, a Red Cross unit in St. Thomas parish, children in the grade and high school selling war bonds - Father Murphy helped coordinate a parish responding to the effects of World War II. " To his task he brought gifts of a most winning character. Parishioners and men who were assistant priests in his day testify to his extraordinary kindness. One of the curates of the time, remembering him this year, called him the finest Pastor I have ever known, Father Charles Ambrose Murphy - humanist, humanitarian." [Frank Smothers. Saint Thomas the Apostle Centennial History. Private Printing. Chicago, Illinois. 1969, p.10]

He had nearly nine years of dedicated service at St. Thomas when his days ended on the 8th of August 1950, at Mercy Hospital. Two sisters and a brother witnessed the final words spoken over Father Murphy by Cardinal Samuel Stritch as he was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery. At St. Thomas the Apostle parish in the University of Chicago-Hyde Park area Father Murphy assumed what would be his final pastorate. He had nearly nine years of dedicated service at St. Thomas when his days ended on the 8th of August 1950, at Mercy Hospital. Two sisters and a brother witnessed the final words spoken over Father Murphy by Cardinal Samuel Stritch as he was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery.