Arlene Chen-Ling Purcell

Arlene Chen-Ling Purcell was born November 12, 1959 in Taipei, Taiwan. When she was just 1 1/2 years old, her father, Ting Wong, had a job with the World Health Organization that blessed his family with the rare opportunity to travel the world. In 1961, Arlene, her parents, and her 3 month old brother Jen Hsun moved to Bo, Sierra Leone. During the next 10 years they also lived in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Kaduna, Nigeria. In 1971, when she was 12 years old, she moved to Brighton, England. She attended Roedean Boarding School while her parents were still in Africa which led to her early independence. The family immigrated to the U.S. in 1977 and she proudly graduated from college at Long Beach State in 1982 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She married the love of her life, Mike Purcell, in 1987 and began working as a media buyer at a real estate advertising agency. From 1991-1995, they had 3 wonderful children, Kayla, Ryan and Marisa. She became a devoted stay-at-home mom participating in all of her children's activities as a team mom and room mom, by creating soccer banners and painting murals for the elementary school. Once all the children were in school, Arlene went back to work as a special education teaching assistant demonstrating her strong work ethic and care for others. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December of last year and bravely underwent a series of challenges including a Whipple surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, all whilst maintaining a positive attitude and passion for life. Arlene passed away peacefully and at home on November 10, 2016 surrounded by the people she loved most, her family.

Memorial contributions may be made to:

http://support.pancan.org/goto/arlenepurcell