William Purdy

Dr. William E. Purdy passed away on May 28, 2010 at age 95 at the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center at Safford, Arizona. He is survived by a sister, Delsa Mooney, of Longview, Washington, and by his four children, William K Purdy, Thatcher, Richard K. Purdy (Susan) Tucson, Shauna Thee (See Ba) Laie, Hawaii, Charlene Clouse (Terrill) Gilbert, 14 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. His beloved wife Mary K. Purdy preceded him in death in 2003. Dr. Purdy, a long-time resident of Thatcher, Arizona was born in Oakley Wyoming, and grew up in Quarry, Wyoming. He was a country boy at heart, loved animals and hiking the hills and mountains that surrounded his home. He especially loved the winter when he would sled, ice skate and ski. He was part of a very happy home and was surrounded by loving parents, brother and sister. He graduated from Kemmerer High School, Kemmerer Wyoming, where he was Valedictorian and Student Body President. After High School, during the depths of the Great Depression, he and his brother Lony joined the Civilian Conservation Corp where he worked both in Southwestern Wyoming and Texas. He graduated from the LDS Business College in Ogden, Utah and then earned bachelors and masters degrees from Brigham Young University. Thereafter he earned a PhD degree in music from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. While at BYU he was a member of the Cougar Quartet, which sang throughout the western states to raise money for BYU and other LDS church construction. The quartet, which was featured each week on a radio show on KSL radio in Salt Lake City, went to Hollywood and auditioned and was offered a recording contract. Unfortunately the war broke out, the quartet disbanded and the members subsequently entered military service. Dr. Purdy entered military service in January 1942 with the ninth Armored Division and was later transferred to a military hospital unit and trained as a military corpsman. He was involved in combat in a number of the Central European Campaigns. At the cessation of hostilities in Europe his unit embarked on a ship enroot to the Pacific for the invasion of Japan when the war ended. He was honorably discharged on December 8, 1945. After the war, Dr. Purdy was principal of the Diamondville, Wyoming Schools and took care of his ailing father. September 8, 1949 he married the love of his life, Mary Briggs Kirkham in the Salt Lake Temple. After his marriage he taught at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah and then in 1963 came to Thatcher as professor of music at Eastern Arizona College. During his tenure he was the music department chairman and chairman of the Fine Arts division. He taught music theory, vocal music and was director of the choirs and music ensembles. He was the voice coach of all the major musical productions at the college. At Dixie State College he started the tradition of performing Handel's Messiah at Christmas with the college choir and continued that tradition in Thatcher while expanding participation by performing it as a community choir. He conducted presentations of the Messiah for 37 consecutive years. He was also instrumental in the planning, design, and building of the fine arts center on the EAC campus. Dr. Purdy had many interests outside of his work including lapidary, silversmith, faceting, poetry, gardening, short story composition, collecting Mormon folk hymns and music composition. He was a devout member of the LDS church holding many church callings and with his now-deceased wife served 3 missions for that church. His bright inquisitive mind, his enormous creativity and empathy, and his gentle humor will always be treasured by those who knew and loved him. Funeral Services will be conducted at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 12, 2010 in the Thatcher LDS Stake Center. There will be a viewing Friday, June 11, from 6-8 p.m. McDougals Caldwell Funeral Chapel, in Safford, and one hour prior to the funeral on Saturday. Contributions can be made in his name to the charity, Paralyzed Veterans of America.