RUMFORD – Emmeline “Emmy” Murphy was Teena Gorham’s sister, business partner and best friend.
“She was like a mother to my children. We spent all our holidays together. We were the most together people I know,” said Teena, who with Emmy ran Teena’s Restaurant in East Rumford for nearly 50 years. “It worked out great. We never had a disagreement.”
Emmy, at age 89, died on Dec. 19.
She was famous for her chicken pie.
“Every Tuesday night, people would flock to the restaurant from miles around,” Teena said. “I think it’s that tender, loving care Emmy put into it.”
William Murphy, Emmy’s only child, remembers working in the restaurant with his mother and aunt.
“My mother worked hard. She would work 12 hours a day, six days a week. She loved cooking,” William said.
She also ran a tight ship.
“She kept everyone in line,” he said.
But she was also a loving and devoted mother.
“She spoiled me rotten. I grew up with my Aunt Teena’s kids. My mother was a great and generous lady. She treated them like they were her kids,” said William.
She also dealt with a lot of adversity, he said.
She developed arthritis when she was in high school, but she never let it slow her down. As a high school student, she began her cooking career in some of the grand hotels in Rangeley, said William.
“In her earlier days, her father would drop her off for the summer at the family’s camp in Oquossoc and she would work at the camps there. That’s where she got her restaurant experience,” he said. “She was a very conscientious cook and loved the Rangeley area.”
She also loved to travel, said Teena.
During the off season – the restaurant is open from July through November – the sisters would jump in the car and visit their siblings in Texas and Washington.
“We were always together. Emmy and I were very close,” said Teena.
The restaurant came about almost by accident.
In 1955, the owners of the then, newly built Linnell Motel wanted a dining room of some sort nearby. The first Teena’s Restaurant provided only window service and snacks when Prospect Avenue was still a part of Route 2. When the highway was moved, the restaurant expanded and the chicken pie was introduced at the request of family and friends who knew how good it was.
For the past two years, Teena or another member of the family-run business, has been making the famous pie from Emmy’s recipe.
Emmy had suffered a mini-stroke and her arthritis grew worse.
“She kept going until she was 88,” said Teena. “We always said we’d go out with our aprons on.”
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, at St. Athanasius and St. John Catholic Church.
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