Martin J. Purcell 1918 - 1997

PURCELL, LILLIE, MCCAMBRIDGE, RUES, SHAFF, KIELEY

Posted By: Michael J. Kearney (email)
Date: 1/24/2011 at 21:01:28

The Clinton Herald Tuesday September 30, 1997 p. 7 Word has been received of the death of Martin J. Purcell, 78, of Overland Park, Kan., formerly of Clinton. He died Sept. 21 in his home. The funeral was 10 a.m. Sept. 23 in Queen of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery. D.W. Newcomer's Sons Overland Park Chapel was in charge of arrangements. He was born Dec. 24, 1918, in Clinton, to Martin W. and Evelyn Lillie Purcell. He married Elizabeth "Betty Anne" McCambridge, April 20, 1946. He was a 1936 graduate of Clinton High School and attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon from 1936 to 1938. He received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1948. He was an lieutenant colonel in the United States Army from 1941 to 1946, serving in Italy. He was awarded two purple hearts and the bronze cross. He was admitted to the Iowa Bar and Missouri Bar in 1948. He was first employed as an associate with the law firm of Morrison, Nugent, Burger, Hecker & Buck. He became a partner with the firm in 1953, and retired in 1989 from the firm of Morrison & Hecker. He was a member of the Missouri Bar Association, where he served on the board of governors and as president. He received the President's Award in 1970. Survivors include his wife; four daughters, Jane Rues, Anne Purcell, Mary Dey Purcell and Martha Purcell; seven grandchildren; four brothers, Roger Shaff or rural Camanche, Jay Shaff of Bettendorf, James Shaff of Cedar Rapids, and David Shaff of Clinton; ans a sister, Jeanne Kieley of Fullerton, Calif. He was preceded in death by a brother and a sister. Death date: Sept. 21, 1997.