Philip Brophy

My name is Stephanie Power. I am from Fermeuse, Newfoundland, Canada.  This Philip Brophy is my great uncle.  After much searching, I am delighted to have found this web site!

I have been told by family members that Philip joined the navy during WWII in Newfoundland, but that after the war, he returned to Newfoundland but only briefly.  He was said to have "gone to the states," but did not maintain contact with family.  I was told that my other great uncle, John Brophy (his brother) did run into him somewhere in Queens, as he was on a ship as well.  Not sure what dates though.  Other family members tried to locate him over the years but no luck.

There is a certain symmetry to the fact that so many sailors are buried on Hart Island, resting on an island, surrounded by the sounds of the sea. Philip Joseph Brophy was one such sailor. He was born March 25, 1915, in Fermeuse, Canada, the son of Stephen and Bridget (O'Neill) Brophy. Philip went to sea at the age of twenty. He worked as a ship carpenter, or as an assistant bosun (or boatswain) responsible for maintaining the ship. He served on the Bahia and the Fort Amherst, journeying up and down the Atlantic coast between Newfoundland and New York City, but the majority of his career in the early 1950's was spent on one ship- the Queen of Bermuda. For at least four years he was employed on the ship as an assistant bosun on the monthly cruises between New York City and Bermuda, with occasional forays to London, Port au Prince, Cartagena, or Kingston. When in port he lived in on 229th Street in St. Albans, a community in the borough of Queens on Long Island, New York.

Philip Brophy died May 11, 1994, at the Fairview Nursing Care Center, and was buried on Hart Island.

Sources: U.S. Social Security Death Index; U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index; New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957; New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1974.