Thomas Eugene Purcell

Born on the 19th of December 1932, in Marshall, Tom was the son of Paul Edward Murphy Purcell, a pioneer in the oil and gas industry, and Anna Wilma Price Purcell. Because of his father’s work, Tom spent much of his childhood in various Texas communities before his family settled in Wichita Falls, where he graduated from Wichita Falls High School in 1950.

Tom attended the University of Oklahoma, earning his degree in Geological Engineering in 1955. Shortly after graduation, he was drafted into the United States Army and completed basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado. On the 16th of July 1955, he married the love of his life, Margaret Virginia Mitchell, in Fort Worth. The couple began their married life while Tom was stationed in the Midwest before eventually returning to Norman, Oklahoma, where he completed his graduate degree in Petroleum Engineering.

Following his military service and graduate studies, Tom began his professional career with Tennessee Gas Transmission Company (Tenneco) in Casper, Wyoming. In 1965, he joined George Mitchell & Associates, further advancing his career in oil and gas exploration. After additional professional work, including advanced management studies at Harvard University in 1969, Tom embarked on a long and successful independent career as a petroleum engineer and geologist, continuing his work in the field for more than twenty-five years.

Tom was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his beloved wife of seventy years, Virginia Mitchell Purcell; daughter, Diane Purcell Dean and her husband Mike of Houston; son, Timothy Mitchell Purcell and his wife Hilary of Houston; grandchildren, Greg Dean (Meghan), Jeff Dean (Shannon), Virginia “Ginny” Dean Piening (Kevin), Caroline Purcell Dace (William), Connor Purcell, and Mitchell Purcell; and great-grandchildren, Harrison, Hallie, Wesley, Theodore “Tad”, Archer, Willa, Henry, and Kate. He is also survived by his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, William and Betty Mitchell of Fort Worth.

Tom found great joy in the outdoors, especially fly fishing in Idaho’s Teton Valley, where he created cherished memories taking his grandsons on fishing trips as they came of age. Some of his most treasured moments were the quiet evenings he shared with Virginia on the veranda of their Santa Fe home, enjoying a glass of wine together while watching the sunset.

The Mass of Christian Burial is to be offered at half-past ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 24th of February, at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 11720 Joan of Arc Drive in Houston.

Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the nearby Community Center.

The Rite of Committal will follow the reception, via an escorted cortege at Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston at half-past one o’clock in the afternoon.

Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Mike Dean, Tim Purcell, Greg Dean, Jeff Dean, Connor Purcell, and Mitchell Purcell. Honorary pallbearers are William Mitchell, Howard Kiatta, and J. Denny Bartell.

To support conservation of the rivers and fisheries Tom loved, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be made in lieu of customary remembrances to the Snake River Fund by selecting the "Donations" link below.

We invite you to take a few moments to share fond memories and words of comfort and condolence with his family by selecting the “Add a Memory” icon.