Joan (Johnnie) (Thomas) Purnell |
| Posted 2008-11-16 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Saturday, November 15, 2008 Joan Thomas "Johnnie" Purnell, 84, died Nov. 13, 2008, in Prescott, Ariz. She was born Aug. 18, 1924, in Pittsburgh, Pa., the second daughter of Harrison McClure Thomas and Katharine Jane Black Thomas. Katharine died in 1934. Harrison later married Mary Catherine Barton. Harrison and "Kitty" had a son, Barty, and a daughter, Betsy. Kitty was a devoted mother to the four children. Johnnie graduated from Miss Fine's School in Princeton, N.J., and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She received a Master's degree in education from Northern Arizona University, where she was elected to the honorary society Phi Kappa Phi. She taught at Taylor Hicks Elementary School for 19 years and, after her retirement, she helped in classrooms there. She also visited schools with the Masterpiece and Speaker Bureau programs of the Prescott Art docents. She was the president of that organization in 1991-1992. She married William S. Payson in 1945. They had two sons. The marriage ended in divorce. She married John Berry Purnell in 1955. The family moved to Prescott from Baltimore, Md., in 1960. John "Jake" Purnell predeceased her in 1988. She is survived by two sons, William Taylor Payson (Susan) of Tucson, Ariz., and David Alexander Payson (Elizabeth) of Bellevue, Wash.; two sisters, Jane Thomas Fenninger (Leonard) of Evanston, Ill., and Elisabeth Thomas Peterson of Boston, Mass. Her brother Henry Barton Thomas (Maryl) and her brother-in-law Frederick Peterson predeceased her. She is also survived by three grandsons, Bryan Taylor Payson (Dodi), Blair Laurence Payson and Bowen Taylor Payson; and one great-granddaughter, Lane Kennedy Payson. She is also survived by nephews, nieces and cousins. Although not a natural athlete, she loved many sports. As a youth, she participated in figure skating, field hockey, small boat sailing and racing and tennis. At college, she learned to fly a Piper Cub airplane, but she married before she earned her pilot's license. Later, she played both golf and tennis. A lover of spectator sports, she and Jake followed the successful Baltimore Colts football team to watch them play in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1959. While in the west, they visited Prescott and decided to make it their future home. As a rabid Baltimore Orioles baseball fan, in 1958 she saw 43 games and the All-Star game. In later life, she rooted for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs. A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 2000 Shepard Lane, Prescott, Ariz. Contributions may be made to PAD (Prescott Art Docents) Recognition and Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 3002, Prescott, AZ 86302, St. Luke's Church or the charity of your choice. Hampton Funeral Home was entrusted with the arrangements. Information provided by survivors. |
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