Howard Rufus Purdy

Obituary of Howard R. Purdy Gainesville - Howard Rufus Purdy, age 100, of 1441 SE 23rd Ave, Gainesville, went to be with the Lord on October 12, 2023, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lake City, Florida. His wife, Elizabeth (Slate) Purdy, preceded him in passing in 2006. He leaves three sons: Steve Howard Purdy and his wife Karen of Claymont, DE, Brian Purdy of Gainesville, and Brett Cornelison and his wife Teresa of Gainesville; two daughters: Cheri Purdy (his loving caregiver) and Lora Purdy Ryan, both of Gainesville. He also leaves five grandchildren: Kirsten, Alexander, Brett, Jr., Melinda, and Brittany; and five great-grandchildren: Helen, Decklen, & Lorraine; David and Solomon. He was also predeceased by his four brothers: Ross, David, Thomas, & Richard and a sister, Emma. Mr. Purdy was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Ross and Dagna (Tufte), a Norwegian immigrant. He attended the Chester Public School System, and lived through the Great Depression. He served in the US Navy in WWII as a First Class Machinist Mate in the South Atlantic, as the acting Chief Engineer on the Admiral’s yacht, and in the Shore Patrol. Since both parents died in the late 1930s, the Purdy boys (David, Thomas, Howard, & Richard) were orphaned. The family of Jane and Robert Simpson, with their two daughters Cassie and Roberta, took them into their home in Folsom, Pennsylvania. This was just as the three oldest boys were enlisting in the military, as Richard was still a teenager. Howard moved to Gainesville in 1959 with his wife Elizabeth to start working for Sperry Rand, where they started their family which included the four youngest of his children named above. He eventually worked at the University of Florida Solar House Project where he was a machinist/mechanic, and he assisted engineering students in machine shop practices while working in the College of Mechanical Engineering. He loved visiting with his friends and relatives in the summer up north in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He loved attending church services at Calvary Baptist Church in southeast Gainesville where he was a deacon and longtime Sunday school teacher and raised his children there to follow God, and Highlands Baptist and North Central Baptist Churches in Gainesville until his passing. Services will be this Friday, October 20, at North Central Baptist Church, 8001 NW 23rd Avenue, Gainesville, FL, with viewing and visitation at 1 pm, and the memorial service following at 2 pm. Burial will be at Hillcrest Memorial Park, Forest Meadows East Cemetery at 3700 SE Hawthorne Road, Gainesville, following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Altrusa House in Gainesville, FL, or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Howard Rufus Purdy

May 29, 1923 - October 12, 2023