Bill Purdy

Willie (Bill) Vern Purdy, 92, passed away very peacefully surrounded by most of his family on June 24, 2014 in Newburg, Maryland. Bill was born on November 27, 1921 in Lentner, Missouri, to Eva Pearl Butner-Purdy and Thomas Melvin Purdy. A World War II veteran, Bill grew up on a farm then moved to Shelbina when he was 12 years old.
In 1942 Bill joined the U.S. Navy in Moberly, Missouri. He married Mary E. Lamb in 1943. Bill was commissioned on the USS Shields DD596. He went to Pearl Harbor in 1944 on the USS Shields to the Solomon Islands, South Pacific and then to the Philippine Islands. From 1950 to 1954 Bill was on the USS Philippine Sea in Korea most of the time.
In 1955-1956 Bill was on the USS Princeton in China. In 1956 he was transferred to Patuxent River Naval Air Station as an Electronics Technician until 1959. On September 27, 1961 Bill was Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Navy after 21 years of service. He was hired as a Civil Service employee in Satellite Communications, at Webster Field, St. Inigoes, MD. He was a member of a team that sent the first satellite communication to a military vessel. He spent 18 years in the Civil Service at Webster Field, and retired in 1977.
He married his second wife, Helen Smith in 1971 and moved to Valdosta, GA after retirement. He started his own clock repair, sales and service on Patterson Street in 1981. It was called Bill Purdy's Lathem Time Recorders. He retired from the time clock repair business in 1998.
Bill learned to play golf in 1973 at Patuxent River NAS. He enjoyed the game until he was 85 years old. Some other hobbies included gardening, playing cards, fishing, camping, baseball, eating oysters, and crabbing.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents, wife, and his younger brother Thomas E. Purdy. He is survived by his younger sister Peggy Browne (John) and his six children: Sandra Molko (John), Avon Park, FL; Donald Purdy (Joyce), Newburg, MD; Donna Cyrus, Great Mills, MD; Kim Kreider (John), Mt. Joy, PA; Steve Purdy (Wanda), Lawrenceville, GA, and Jim Purdy, Clements, MD. He was the grandfather of five grandchildren (Tracy and Jeffrey Keiser, Brian Klemz, Dawn and Amber Cyrus), 11 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of the Carson McLane Funeral Home on Sunday, June 29, 2014. Burial with Military Honors will follow at Sunset Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held Sunday from 1:00 - 2:00 at the funeral home. There will be a reception for family and friends at First United Methodist Church after the burial. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Charles County, Inc., 2505 Davis Rd., Waldorf, MD 20603. Condolences may be conveyed online at www.mclanecares.com. Carson McLane Funeral Home.



Funeral Home:
Carson McLane Funeral Home
2215 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA
US 31602