Doris Purcell

Doris was born on June 1, 1941 to Faye Crosby and Alice (Burton) Crosby in her grandmother’s house in Oxford, NE. She was the youngest of four children and joined Dorothy, Donald and Dwight to complete the family. Her family farmed land in eastern Nebraska and later moved to southern Iowa.

Growing up on the family farm, she had many chores to do, including taking care of the animals, gathering eggs, and other similar jobs. Even at an early age, God was giving her the gifts of hospitality and care for others that she would use throughout her life. She learned to cook and sew and how to be a good homemaker from her mother. Toward the end of high school, her mother became ill. Doris cared for her mother until her death a few months later. Shortly after, she worked as a nurse’s aide at a local hospital until she met and married the love of her life, Ed Purcell. They married on November 27, 1964, and moved to Hannibal, MO, as Ed began his preaching ministry and she as his faithful companion.

Throughout their years of ministry, they pastored churches in Hannibal, MO (1965-1967), Beatrice, NE (1967-1969), Amarillo, TX (1969-1974), Republic, MO (1974-1977), El Dorado, AR (1977-1983), Union, MO (1983-1986), Kokomo, IN (1986-1992), Princeton, IL (1992-1996) and Huron, SD (1996-2005). Along the way, they were blessed with four children – David, Mike, and twins Melodie and Rosalie.

Her life was characterized by her unwavering belief in God’s faithfulness and the ways in which she used her gifts to draw people to Jesus. She was a devoted and loving wife and mother, and a prayer warrior who spent many hours on her knees in intercession. She was an incredible cook and used that gift and her gift of hospitality to serve and care for countless people. She was a very thoughtful gift giver - each gift was especially picked out for the person that would be receiving it. This was particularly true of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were the joy of her life!

Doris is preceded in death by her parents, her sister and brother-in-law Dorothy (Alfred) Dietz, her brother and sister-in-law Donald (Eula) Crosby, her brother Dwight Crosby, and her husband, Ed. She is survived by her children, David Purcell of Olathe, KS, Mike (Cheralea) Purcell of Wasilla, AK, Melodie (Jim) Williams of Olathe, KS, Rosalie (Jeff) Barnes of Olathe, KS, her sister-in-law Grace Crosby of Clarinda, IA, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law Tim (Dawn) Purcell of Ottawa, KS, 11 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews that loved her.

A visitation will be held at College Church of the Nazarene on December 31st from 10:00 – 11:00 am, with the funeral following at 11:00 in Uphaus Hall. Internment will be at the Gardner Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wesleyan Church for the continued work in Suriname, South America.