Joan Harrington Pursel, 82, beloved wife, mother and grandmother passed away November 13, 2012. Joan was born in Butte, Montana on November 8, 1930. She attended the University of Montana where she was affiliated with Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. She was also a member of the Junior League in her hometown. After several years of working at the State Capitol in Helena, she relocated to Washington, D.C. and was employed in the office of the U.S. Senator, James E Murray of Montana. She also represented her state as Miss Montana in the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It was there she met her husband-to-be, Las Vegan Tom, while he was attending law school. Following his graduation, they were married in Butte on September 26, 1959 and then came to Las Vegas to live. Joan was very active in her early years in Las Vegas. She was an organizing and founding member of both the Junior Mesquite Club and the Clark County Attorneys Wives Club of which she served as the Recording Secretary and President. She was also active in the Young Democrats, the Kappa Kappa Alumni and the St Anne’s and Bishop Gorman High School PTA organizations. In addition, she held memberships in the Service League and Junior League serving as Secretary and Vice President. Always willing to help in charitable drives, Joan served as Co-Chairman for the City of Las Vegas in the National Cancer Drive. In recent years, she was a part-time, on-call employee of the L.V.C.V.A. in their Convention Registration Department. Joan is survived by her devoted husband of 53 years, Thomas Pursel; brothers, Bill, Rob and Rick Harrington; sisters, Peggy Sutey (John) and Susie Simanowitz (Robert); daughter Jill Vukasin (Paul); sons Thomas K. and Daniel Pursel; three grandchildren, Lauren Lambert (Michael), Ryan and Dylan Vukasin; and two great- grandchildren, Makayla and John Lambert. A visitation will be held on Monday, November 19, 2012 from 4-6 p.m. with a rosary to follow at 6 p.m. at Palm Mortuary, 1600 South Jones. The funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Husband of Mary Catholic Church, 7260 W. Sahara Avenue. The internment will be at Palm Valley View Cemetery, 7600 Eastern Avenue. Arrangements under the direction of Palm South Jones Mortuary, Las Vegas, NV.
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