Dorn Murphy (17 Jan 1966 - 22 Sep 2025)

However you knew her - Dawn, Dorn, Prawn, Murph, Murphy, Mum, Mumma, Nanna - she will be missed by us all.

Mum was born on the 17th January 1966 in Maidstone - if you knew mum, you knew she hated Maidstone and never wanted to return.

Fast forward to 17 years old, she moved out, and moved to Gillingham and began working in a pub living in a bed sit. This is where she would meet our Dad, Mick.

Anyone who knew them, knew they loved hard, and fought even harder. The pair of them always kept each other on their toes and would soon build a beautiful family together.

First was Lea, very quickly followed by Ricki and Kieren. Dad said he was done, but Mum had other ideas. Mum always said she wanted a girl and ‘accidentally’ fell pregnant with Amber.

Growing up, we were always outside. Whether it was going down darland banks on cardboard boxes with our cousins, or going on a rare family day out to the beach. We were always together.

Fast forward to 2013, where we unfortunately lost our Dad. This was by far the hardest time in all our lives, especially Mums.

We worked through it, and slowly Mum rebuilt not only her confidence, but her life too. She went to family weddings, Brands Hatch track days, and adopted her two dogs Toby and Tilly who she absolutely adored. They were her main support in finding herself again.

Mum welcomed 7 grandchildren, Jack, Alex, Casey, George, Ollie, Demi, and Iris - and by far being a Nanna was her favourite job. She was always there for all of us, supporting us all going back to work and caring for the grandchildren. Mum always put herself last - and thrived on being able to be there for people. She was the fun, crazy Nanna - the one who would give in to the children FAR too easy and use the excuse “I’m their nanna! It’s my job!”.

Fast forward to January 2025. Mum had been having health issues for the past 2 years. After many investigations, we received the heartbreaking news of her Stage 3 lung Adenocarcinoma.

Mum fought every day to beat this. With relentless hospital visits, radiotherapy, surgeries, PICC lines, biopsies, CT, MRI and PET scans. And with every knock back, she came back 10 times stronger with the resilience and strength we all admired.

And then on the 22nd September, after a short admission to the Wisdom Hospice, Mum lost that fight. Right up until the day she passed away, she was still looking to the future, booking holidays, birthdays, first days at school. She never lost hope, and the pride we feel for her is indescribable.

This is a loss that we will never recover from, however we would want to celebrate her life in true Dorn style.

So please if you are able to attend, join us to celebrate our beautiful Mum.

Her funeral will be held on 24/10/25 at 11am. The service will be at Bluebell Hill crematorium. Please try to get to the crematorium for 10:40-10:45.

We further invite you to attend her Wake - which will be held
The Dreys
Rumstead Lane
Sittingbourne
ME97RT

Mum loved colour, festivals, bikes and being outdoors. So we ask that if you are comfortable to do so, not to attend in the typical traditional Black for a funeral. Honour our mum by wearing colour (her favourite was Lilac), something Festival vibes, a band t shirt, a coloured tie or something bike related.

Let’s give our Mum the send off she would have loved.

Furthermore, we have added an option for donations to the Wisdom Hospice Charity, the place where Mum spent her last week of her life. Where they cared for her with so much love and we can only be eternally grateful to them.

Love,
Lea, Ricki, Kieren and Amber
Xx