|
Mary K. Purdy • 1939- 2005 Mary Kathryn Purdy, 65,128-28th St. SW, died Monday, July 18, 2005, at a Minot hospital, her husband Paul at her side. Mary had waged a courageous battle with several serious medical problems that became acute over the last five months. She was born Sept. 24, 1939, in Minot, a daughter of Arthur and Stella (Goode) Anderson. Raised in the Minot area, she attended various rural schools in the region where her mother was the teacher. She was enrolled in St. Leo's Catholic School for the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, and then transferred to Minot High School where she graduated in 1957. While at MHS, she was a member of the school's a cappella choir. She attended and graduated from Minot State University with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education. She was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority at MSU. Following graduation from MSU, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where her sister Sylvia lived. She taught for two years at St. Jude Catholic School in Cincinnati, and then returned to Minot. She married Dr. Paul A. Purdy, a Minot dentist, on June 13, 1964, at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Minot. They since have made their home in Minot. Mary continued her teaching career at Little Flower Catholic School in Minot until taking time off from teaching to help raise their three sons. She later returned to teaching at St. Leo's School, spending 23 years there until her retirement in 2004. Her career as an elementary teacher covered some 30 years. It was work that Mary reveled in and always had been close to, starting as a student of her own mother. Since her teaching was confined to parochial schools, she was keenly aware of the awesome responsibility that accompanied the additional challenge of instructing her young students in the Catholic faith. She saw it as a work of love and an extension of practicing her faith. She also taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes at her home parish, St. John the Apostle in Minot. In earlier years, she had been a member of St. Leo's and Our Lady of Grace parishes. She was a member of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers. Outside of teaching, Mary often filled in when needed in her husband's dental office. She was a member of the North Dakota Dental Auxiliary and served a term as state president in the mid-1970s. Mary enjoyed travel with her family. When their boys were small, they traveled around the country in a travel trailer. She and Paul later did considerable traveling on their own throughout the USA and abroad. Her other hobbies included reading. She was a great fan of the Hollywood musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, and maintained a collection of those old films. Surviving are her husband Paul; sons, Thomas P., his wife Chantanee, and their daughters, Maleah, 2, and Aris, 9 months; Timothy J., his wife Suzanna, and their children, son Tyler, 6, daughter Lexi, 4, son Jake, 2, and newborn son, Sean; Robert F., his wife Clarissa, and their children, son, Robert F. Purdy II, 4, son, John J. Purdy II, 2, and daughter, Luciana, 4 months. All live in Las Vegas, NV. Mary also is survived by her sister Sylvia Rogalski and husband Bill, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, her son, Mark Greer and his wife Lynne, Avon, Ohio, and their daughters, Kirsten and Erika, and sons, Kevin and Timothy; her son, James Woods and his wife Karen, and their daughter, Denise, and sons, Thomas and Charles, North Ridgeville, Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents and a grandnephew, John Greer, who was a triplet sibling of Kevin and Timothy Greer. Funeral: Saturday, July 30, 2005, at 10:30 a.m. in St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Minot. Burial: Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot. Visitation and Prayer Service: Friday from noon to 7 p.m., with prayer service at 7 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot. Memorials are preferred to St. Leo's School in Minot. |