Leo Verne Murphy

MURPHY, MORRISON, RITZ, WHIRRETT, ERICKSON, JESSEN, WAGLER

Posted By: LuRee Runnells (email)
Date: 7/21/2005 at 14:30:12

TINY GIRLS SKILLED ROPE JUMPERS - 1949

BY: Herb Owens
Pulaski, Iowa -- Six tiny schoolgirls, quick as fleas and serious as judges, have come to wide acclaim in Iowa by their exhilarating rope jumping performances -- and they're trained by a 40-year-old bachelor who's probably the only male primary school teacher in the State.

Leo Murphy, plump, balding Keosauqua [Van Buren Cty.] native, saw the now-famous North High school girls' rope skipping act in Des Moints about four years ago--and came home here to organize a similar act with the wee sprites in his primary, first and second grade class room [Pulaski, Iowa].

In the last four years, Murphy has trained 22 youngsters to perform the marveolus, time-exacting tricks--and as the little girls were promoted beyound second grade, new, younger ones took up their jumping ropes. Right now, having lost two little stars who moved away March 1, Murphy has enlisted the services of two kindergarteners--five years old--to fill out the sextet of jumpers.

Judy Jeanne Murphy, Leo's niece, and Norma Morrison are the new stars. The others are Sharon Lynn Erickson 6,; Sharon Kay Jessen 6; and Madalyn Ritz, 6; all first graders, and Jane Ann Whirrett, 7 a second grader. Hazel Ritz, fourth grader former a skipper and her sister, Lillian in the sixth grade, are the regular rope turners.

"I first organized them by bringing the ropes to school and letting anyone in the class try it. Then I took the ones who showed the most skill and interest for the team," said Murphy. "We've never taken any school time to practice. It's all been done either during recess or during the noon hour."

Many Routines -- The youngsters who perform in fine white satin costumes trimmed in red which their mothers made for them, do most of the routines that the Des Moines high school girls did--as I remember--including the "egg beater." For the "egg beater," the older Ritz sisters turn two 18-foot ropes in opposite directions.

Into this mousetrap maze of flying ropes, the little jumpers run, then skp like mad with their own single ropes. Just to make it tougher, the little gals get in that "egg beater" and bounce a volley ball in perfect rhythm.

There's another stunt. Into the whipping loop of the big rope, a little girl dashes to start skipping with her own rope. Another gal jumps in, stands in front of her; another gal jumps in behind--so three gals are skipping in the single rope and all inside the big rope.

Sometimes Miss--Occasionally they miss, of course. It makes it a better show (just like professional acrobats missing to make it look tougher). But the little girls, so serious, never become confused when they suddently become all bound up in tangled rope. They hop right in to perform it right. For an opening and finale', all six youngsters skip in unison, just like a chorus line, on the one long rope. Pretty "dawgone cute". The youngsters have made 22 or more appearances away from home [Pulaski, IA], including Des Moines, Knoxvill, Fairfield, Ottumwa and Fort Madison.

Murphy, a graduate of Milton High school, attended Parsons college and taught country school before going overseas with the army He's handled the lower grades here since his return.

First Name--His 28 pupils, a lively bunch, all call him "Leo" -- and he loves it. Yes, he buckles galoshes, opens lunch boxes, pulls out stiff thermos bottle corks, all those arduous duties which fall to primary teachers. What's more, he has his 12 kindergarten pupils all day.

"I wondered, at first, whether it was a good to mix kindergarten with first grade. I believe it helps. The little ones are learning to read and have already finished the first reader," he said.
End of article, name of newspaper unknown.

PULASKI JUMPERETES STEAL SHOW AT AMES
Burlington Hawk-eye Gazette

Ames--Eight little girls, and a raw-boned Irishman stole the show the other night at the Farm Bureau's sports festival.

The Irishman was Leo Murphy a baldheaded, sqaure-jawed hunk of man who teaches the primary and second grade class at Pulaski.

The little girls were his pupils, and they call themselves the "Jumperettes from Pulaski". They were Judy Murphy, Norma Carol Morrison, Sharon Lynn Erickson, Sharon Kay Jessen, Madalyn Ritz, Jane Anne Whirrett, lillian Ritz and Hazel Ritz.

Among other things that Murphy teaches his tots is how to jump a rope. For 15 minutes they kept the huge crowd in West Stadium [Ames, IA] in an uproar as they put themselves through a dozen different routines with ropes and bouncing balls.
End of article.

BROWSING AROUND -- Ottumwa Courier

This column has mentioned it before, but unhesitatingly reports again how pleasant it is to see the Pulaski rope-skippers whom Leo murphy takes around Iowa for exhibitions. Murphy teaches primary, first and second grades in Pulaski schools. When he first started five years ago, he had somewhat of a puzzle to occupy girls during recess on stormy days. Boys played cowboy, but girls needed something else. So he began to guide them in rope-jumping exercises. It became quite a hobby with him, and quite a pleasurable experience for the girls. He has trained 23 experts in the five years. Currently he has a group of six experts--none over seven years old. They have given 38 shows since July 1. The 38th one was in Ottumwa Monday night, to more than 600 at the annual 4-H club banquet. Those tiny girls in their blue costumes performed tricks many people would pay $8.80 to see on Broadway. At one time three of them were jumping three ropes simultaneously. The act climaxed with girls jumping two ropes and bouncing two basketballs at the same time. All in all it was more acrobatcis than Casimir Pulaski himself performed on his cavalry charges. The six little girls who displayed such talent Monday night were Jane Ann Whirrett, Sharon Lynn Erickson, Sharon Kay Jessen, Judy Murphy, Eloise Wagler, Madalyn Ritz, along with Murphy himself. End of article.

Leo is my uncle, born in Van Buren Cty. and graduated from Milton High school in 1929. In World War II, being a bachelor, at the age of 33, he was drafted into the Army on May 15, 1942 and discharged Nov. 30, 1945. In the following spring Pulaski, IA school board offered Leo a teaching job of kindergarten, first and second grades. He had serious doubts about signing a contract and gave it much thought because of what parents would think of a man teaching those lower grades. Several mothers thought the school board was "crazy". But in a short time into the school year they became his biggest supporters. They could see that he saw children were very special and each child was very special to him. He saw that he himself would need further education and enrolled in Parson's College in Fairfield, IA and received is B.A. degress June 1953. Leo never charged to make an appearance nor did they ever enter a contest. They made many trips to Ottumwa performing at the Coliseum with crowds of 1200; performed at the State Farm Bureau Convention in Des Moines and also in Ames; WHO Barn Dance on Sat. night and the Des Moines Register Sports and Vacation Show. It was either their third or fourth year that the girls made 39 appearances.

For a routine that brought the "oohs & ahs", each girl jumped the "egg beater, then each girl followed with her short rope -- the last action was each girl bouncing a ball in the "egg beater", the last three girls bounced two volley balls, these girls changed places without stopping the balls. One after the other, the girls jumped the long rope at the count of "three" they hopped out and made a curtsey. I submitted this for a tribute not only for a special school teacher, Leo Murphy, but a past performing history of the Pulaski Jumperettes", now that the Pulaski school is closed. These news articles are in a collection in my possession and submitted to those who might have an interest.