Widows fight over burying war vet in Sussex or Connecticut

Millionaire banker Paul Morigi, who died last year, and his ‘first and last love’ Olive Murphy

The British and American wives of war hero banker both want him buried in their own local cemetery on opposite sides of the Atlantic so they can visit his grave, a court heard today. 

Morgan Stanley financier and Second World War hero Paul Lewis Morigi, who died last year at 97, had two great loves in his life – on each side of the Atlantic.

He was married to fellow American Muriel Morigi, 96, for 60 years and they had two children, the High Court heard.

But his ‘first and last love’ was Olive Murphy, 92, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, whom he married briefly in 1944 after a wartime romance.

Then in 2011, he married her again after leaving Mrs Morigi and the US behind him aged 92 and moving to England.

After his death, a bitter row erupted between the American family and Mrs Murphy and her relatives over who should be entitled to ‘lie next to him for all eternity’. 

And the argument is now centred on whether he should be buried in Durrington-on-Sea, East Sussex – or nearly 3,500 miles away in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Last December, Mr Morigi’s daughter, Karolyn Morigi-Armstrong, and his four grandchildren, won an injunction preventing Ms Murphy from burying him in the UK.

The American family: Sarah Lang (grandaughter, left) Karolyn Morigi-Armstrong (daughter, centre) and William Armstrong (grandson, right) pose for a photo outside London's High Court

The American family: Sarah Lang (grandaughter, left) Karolyn Morigi-Armstrong (daughter, centre) and William Armstrong (grandson, right) pose for a photo outside London’s High Court

As a result, his body has been in storage in a Sussex undertakers’ for nearly a year. Now Judge Stuart Issacs QC is being asked to decide where he will be laid to rest.

Mr Morigi was a commanding officer in the wartime US Navy when he met and married Mrs Murphy, who is originally from Northern Ireland.

But their marriage was short-lived and the couple divorced in 1948, after Mrs Murphy refused to return with him to the US over fears she would miss her family too much.

Mr Morigi married his second wife the same year. But he divorced her in 2011 and moved to Eastbourne, re-marrying Mrs Murphy, with whom he lived until his death.

He died ‘a wealthy man…who did very well for himself’ and even bought himself a Maserati while in his 90s, the court heard.

But after his death, the row over his burial began as Don Murphy – Ms Murphy’s nephew and one of the executors of the banker’s estate – arranged for him to be buried in a cemetery in Durrington-on-Sea, in a plot picked out by his British widow.

Second World War hero Mr Morigi, who died last year at 97, died 'a wealthy man...who did very well for himself' and even bought himself a Maserati while in his 90s, the court heard

Second World War hero Mr Morigi, who died last year at 97, died ‘a wealthy man…who did very well for himself’ and even bought himself a Maserati while in his 90s, the court heard

But financier Mrs Morigi-Armstrong and the grandchildren insisted that his body must be flown back to the US and buried with full military honours in their family grave plot in Greenwich, Connecticut.

She and Mr Morigi had bought the plot together whilst they were still married, with the intention ‘that their entire family would be interred there,’ the court heard.

The subject was particularly emotional because Mr Morigi’s son – also named Paul – died in 2009, just before his father left the US, and was buried in the family plot in the expectation that his father would lie beside him before too long.

The planned funeral in Durrington was cancelled and, in the year that has passed since, Mr Murphy and a second American executor of Mr Morigi’s estate have been unable to agree what to do about the ‘very sad’ deadlock between the two families.

Joshua Swirsky, for Mr Murphy, told the judge that the wishes of Mr Morigi’s British widow must be honoured and ‘outweigh’ the feelings of his American relatives.

‘His widow, Olive Murphy, wants to be near his grave. If he is buried in the US, given her age and state of health, she will never be able to visit the grave,’ he said.

‘If he is buried in the UK, not only can she visit the grave during the remainder of her life but she can lie next to him for all eternity,’ the barrister went on.

‘In the ordinary course of events, a person would be expected to want to be buried with their spouse rather than other family, even adult children.

‘The US family want him to be buried with them, in order that they can visit the grave and Paul Morigi can be near to his dead son.

‘While it is accepted that these are considerations for the court, it is submitted that they are out-weighed by the wishes of the widow.

‘The wishes of the US family are unrealistic… Don Murphy heard directly from Olive Murphy what Paul Morigi’s wishes were.

After Mr Morigi's death, the row over his burial began, as Don Murphy arranged for him to be buried in a cemetery in Durrington-on-Sea (pictured), in a plot picked out by his British widow

After Mr Morigi’s death, the row over his burial began, as Don Murphy arranged for him to be buried in a cemetery in Durrington-on-Sea (pictured), in a plot picked out by his British widow

‘In these circumstances, the court is asked to discharge the injunction and direct Don Martin to make funeral arrangements in the UK,’ he told the judge.

In the witness box, Karolyn Morigi-Armstrong, who worked in banking alongside her father, said that he would never have wanted to to be buried in England, ‘thousands of miles away from all his family and against his express wishes.

‘He obviously moved across the pond, but he wanted to be buried next to my brother on the site he prepared himself,’ she told the judge.

The barrister for Don Murphy (pictured) said the wishes of Mr Morigi's British widow 'outweigh' the feelings of his US relatives

The barrister for Don Murphy (pictured) said the wishes of Mr Morigi’s British widow ‘outweigh’ the feelings of his US relatives

‘We would have a military funeral for him. He was a commanding officer in World War Two and that was very important for him.’

She said the family plot had been purchased by her mother and father in 2002, and they had paid to put in benches and walls, even choosing a headstone together.

Denying accusations of a ‘serious breakdown’ in relations between the dead man and his American family, she insisted they were ‘still a close family’ even after he moved to England.

But, admitting to ‘some animosity towards Olive’, she added: ‘I wasn’t happy about a lot of things. I didn’t want my elderly father overseas. I didn’t want him leaving the family to go off with somebody we’d never met at the age of 92.’

She also described a row with Olive during which, ‘I said words to the effect of ‘how dare you take an elderly man away from his family?’

‘My father had left us, but at the same time I loved him and wanted to take care of him,’ she told the judge.

Mr Swirsky put to her: ‘We don’t dispute that when the grave site in Connecticut was purchased, it was intended that all members of the family, including him, would be buried there.

‘But things change, relationships change. When your father died, he and your mother were divorced and living on different continents. He chose Olive.

‘Isn’t the important factor who this person wanted to lie with for all eternity? You don’t think your father would want to lie next to Olive, his first and last love?’

‘I think we are honouring my father’s wish to be buried next to my brother in a plot he created him-self,’ she responded. The hearing continues.

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