Obituary of Megan Zaninovich Murphy

Megan Murphy, 44, passed on February 22nd in a Bay Area hospital after a valiant effort to recover from emergency surgery. She connected with many through her authenticity and her warm, gentle nature. Megan served for many years as a speech-language pathologist for the Watsonville High School Special Education Department and was able to touch the lives of many of her students. After growing up in Delano and later Bakersfield, Megan moved to Santa Cruz to attend UC Santa Cruz. She graduated in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree and began work at the Santa Cruz Public Library. She later became a physician’s assistant at the Westside Medical Clinic and earned her master’s in Speech Pathology at San Jose State University in 2008. She chose to reside in Aptos and start her profession first at Pacific Coast Manor. She later transferred to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education before joining the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Megan is survived by her husband, Thomas, and daughter, Leah, of Aptos; her mother, Pamela Zaninovich, of Atwater; her father, George Zaninovich, sister, Celeste Castellanos, and brother, Nicolas Zaninovich, of Delano; and brother, Mathew Zaninovich, of Bakersfield. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 18th at 11 a.m. at Oakwood Chrystal Chapel in Santa Cruz with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Murphy Family Trust. For more information, please visit GoFundMe.com (https//gofund.me/482c70e6).