Anne Granducci Purvis

Anne Granducci Purvis, long of Sherwood Forest, MD, has taken leave of this life. She did it with the grace and dignity that marked everything she did while on this Earth. On Tuesday, June 16, she met Charon at Main Pier and paid for her crossing with a bucket full of sunnies and soft crabs. She began her life on November 16, 1936 at Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, DC. She was greeted by her parents, the late Mildred Marstella Reynolds and Oeveste Santi Granducci, as well as her protector and beloved brother the late Joseph Santi Granducci. It was a youth spent in a whirl of extended family, the shadow of WWII, and the light of the fifties. Following her graduation from Sidwell Friends School, she enrolled at the University of Maryland where she determinedly graduated in three years in order to marry Samuel Martin Purvis III (Pete), Captain USN (Ret.), in 1957. Although their marriage ended in divorce, she dutifully fulfilled her Navy-wife responsibilities while raising their three children. Anne found love and happiness again after her 40th Sidwell Friend’s reunion where she reconnected with a childhood friend who pre-deceased her, and again, with her adoring companion, Harvey Casbarian. While raising her children, she earned a Masters in Early Childhood Education from California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, California. Teaching would be a lifelong vocation before and after she retired from Rolling Knolls Elementary in Annapolis, Maryland. After retirement, she continued to touch children’s lives as a tutor and as Playground Camp Director during several summers at Sherwood Forest Club. Through it all, she kept her sense of humor, purpose, and responsibility. Nothing, however, tops her will and determination to stave off metastatic breast cancer for over five years with the help of Dr. Taksey at Anne Arundel Medical Center, whom she literally entrusted with her life, and with whom she truly enjoyed monthly bantering. Just as beautiful with hair, as without, her grit determination through the pain, agony, and indignity shone through at all times. Her passing was assisted by Visiting Angels and Hospice of the Chesapeake who were truly wonderful and comforting to her family who remained by her side. She is survived by her children and their families: Samuel Martin Purvis IV (Mike), his wife Lisa Anne Moore and their son Samuel Martin Purvis V (Min) of Woodstock, VT.; Joseph Scott Purvis, his wife Mary Kathryn Keahon and their two children, Hannah Marie Purvis and Joseph Scott Purvis Jr. of Arlington, VA.; and Mathann Elizabeth Purvis, her husband Daniel Paul Jackson, and step-children Bryce H. and Clayton F. Jackson of Falls Church, VA. The sun set on June 16, 2015 on the Severn just a bit slower, just a little longer to light Anne’s way to be with her beloved mother and to paint the evening sky with the beauty she doled out so unselfishly. She will be missed by many, but just look to the evening sky—she will always be there. Anne’s family express their sincere thanks to all of their mother’s friends, and especially Harv, who proved to be beyond measure before, during and after their mother’s passing.