Mildred Garnett Brittain Purdy, 96, died Thursday, November 18, 2010, at Westminster Canterbury retirement center in Richmond, VA. The daughter of Melvin O. Brittain and Nellie A. Miller Brittain, she was born on August 22, 1914, in Grundy County, MO near Half Rock, MO, and attended high school in Spickard, MO. After marrying Darrel William Purdy in 1935, they lived in northwest Missouri and moved to Kansas City in 1948. They were members of Fairview Christian Church in Gladstone, MO, where she was a Sunday school teacher. She was a breast cancer survivor, and was a volunteer worker for the American Red Cross and Reach for Recovery of the American Cancer Society . She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and an employee of JC Penney and of First National Bank of North Kansas City. After their retirement they moved to Memphis, TN in 2000. After Darrel Purdy passed away in 2005 she moved to Richmond, VA, where her daughter, Suzanne Kay Matthews and her husband, Larry F. Matthews, live. She is also survived by her son, Jack Wayne Purdy and his wife Eleanor O'Neal Purdy of Germantown, TN, a sister, Georgia Brittain Baier of Dallas, TX, and grandchildren: Dan Matthews and Mike Matthews of Washington, D.C., Anne Matthews Fletcher of Raleigh, NC, Cindy Purdy Lawrence of Germantown, TN, Julie Purdy Fiorelli of Columbia, IL, and twelve great- grandchildren. Family will receive friends from 9:30- 10:00 AM, Monday, November 22, 2010 at Poland-Thompson Funeral Home, Cameron (816-632-2158). Graveside service: 1:00 PM, Monday at Half Rock Cemetery, Half Rock, Missouri. The family requests that any memorials be to the American Cancer Society or the American Red Cross. Online condolences may be left at www.polandthompson.com.
Published in Kansas City Star on November 21, 2010