Philip Noel Brophy, 84, a former City Attorney of the City of Falls Church and a Falls Church resident since 1950, died on April 17 at his home in the City of complications from strokes.
Judge Brophy was a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., and a 1941 graduate of Georgetown University. He enlisted in the Navy and served as a Navy fighter pilot and flight instructor in World War II (1941-45). He graduated from the Georgetown Law School in 1947.
On April 22, 1945, he married Beryl Gompers at the Sacret Heart Church in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Beryl G. Brophy died on Nov. 14, 1999.
Judge Brophy worked as assistant corporation counsel from 1947-51 for the District of Columbia. He worked for the federal government from 1951-53. He joined, as a partner, the firm of Donavan and Turnbull in 1953. He was with Donavan, Turnbull, Brophy and Burns from 1953-74 with offices on Little Falls Rd. He was the Falls City Attorney from 1957 to 1961. He also sat as a municipal judge in Vienna, Va., from 1966-74. In 1974 he became a judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court in Fairfax, Va. He retired as chief judge of that court in 1980.
He served on the board of directors of the Retarded Children's Association during the late 1960s, serving terms as second and first vice president.
The role that he took most pride in was serving as a member of the board of directors of Central Fairfax Services (CFS), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing services to mentally retarded adults in the area. Here, he served as a member of the board of directors from 1981 to 2004, chairman of the legal committee from 1989-2003, chairman of the board 1987-89, member of the executive committee 1987-95, vice-chair of the board of directors, 1990-92, member of the finance committee, 1991-03, secretary of the board of directors, 1992-93, member of the strategic planning committee, 1992-94, and treasurer of the board of directors, 1994-96.
He received the following awards from the organization: William R. Arnold Volunteer Award in 1992, Robert L. Bruggeman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, CFS Twenty-Year Club in 2001 and Director Emeritus in 2003.
Judge Brophy gave thousands of hours of volunteer leadership, legal services, financial guidance, encouragement and wisdom to the board, staff, clients and families of CFS.
He is survived by nine children, Terri Brophy, Lee Anne Maguire, Ronnie Hughes and Sharon Dana, all of Leesburg, Va., Noel Longo, Lisa Barcenas, Eileen Brophy, all of Falls Church, VA., Paul Barksdale of Sterling, Va., and Faith Roberts of Vienna, Va., as well as 28 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Jacqueline Brophy of Washington, D.C.