Mary Helen Murphy
	Mary Helen Murphy Mewshaw Dunn, 88, the former owner of a children's day-care center in her home in Prince George's County, died of congestive heart failure July 20, 2005 at her daughter's house in Severna Park. She lived in Riverdale, Adelphi and other Prince George's County communities from 1951 until 1984, when she moved to Severna Park.
Mrs. Dunn was born in Washington and graduated from Eastern High School in 1936. During World War II, she worked as a secretary at the Naval Ordnance Lab at the Washington Navy Yard. She also operated the day-care center for children of working parents from the early 1950s until 1964, when she retired. A neighbor and former day-care client told Mrs. Dunn's daughter that, thanks to her mother's dependability over the years, she never had to miss a day of work to stay home with her children.
Mrs. Dunn, a movie buff and avid reader who indulged both enthusiasms in retirement, also took care of her grandchildren. She was a member of St. John the Evangelist Church in Severna Park.
	Her marriage to John F. Mewshaw Jr. ended in divorce.
Her second husband, Thomas D. Dunn, died in 1982.
Survivors include two children from her first marriage, J. Patrick Mewshaw of Chandler, Ariz., and Michael F. Mewshaw of London; two children from her second marriage, Karen L. Brusnighan of Severna Park and Kris T. Dunn of Belton, Tex.; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.