Luella Faye (Winger) Purscell McKay (2020)

JOHNSON, KAFCAS, KINNARD, LLOYD, MCKAY, PHILLIPS, PEZZI, PURSCELL, WINGER

Posted By: Shirley Keating
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:04:36

Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
June 28, 2020

Luella Purscell McKay

Hernando - Born on Dec. 9th, 1924, Luella Faye Winger was the oldest daughter of Edna Phillips and Leo Winger, followed by sisters Irmalee and Nettie, and a brother, Don. They were raised in Southern Iowa until their mother moved them to Des Moines.

In what would have been her senior year of high school, Luella went to work with her mother making bullets for the soldiers in WWII. That's when she met her husband, Joseph Edward Purscell, who drove the bus and talked to her every day during the trip from Des Moines to the Ordnance Plant in Ankeny, Iowa.

Joe and Luella married in 1950 and raised three children: Mary Jo, Melvin and Richard. They lived at 1235 5th Avenue on the north side of Des Moines, near Mercy Hospital, until they retired to Florida in 1972. Joe died in Hernando, Florida in 1986 and is buried in his home town, Winterset, Iowa.

For many years, Luella was a lunchroom clerk at Sabin Elementary School in Des Moines. After her husband died, she became the night cafeteria manager at Withlacoochee Area Vocational-Technical College in Inverness, Florida. She retired, and enjoyed many years of traveling and camping with her second husband, Robert McKay, who was a companion and friend, until he died in 2006.

She loved to garden, sew and cook. After a serious fall and rehabilitation in 2018, she was able to be home with her son, Richard and grandson, Sean for Thanksgiving, her 94th birthday, and Christmas. She spent the last year of her life at Metro West Nursing Home in Orlando, near her daughter. She loved sitting in the garden at her home and spent dozens of hours with Mary Jo, talking about family and personal experiences in life. They listened to her favorite old time Country music... and now she bids us Farewell. She died in her sleep on June 19, 2020. She was 95, and will be buried next to her husband and her son, Melvin in the Winterset Memorial Cemetery.

She is survived by her sister, Irmalee in Forest City, Iowa; her daughter, Mary Jo Pezzi in Orlando; and her son, Richard in Hernando. She is also survived by nine grandchildren: Shodie Kafcas in Lutz, Florida; Sean Purscell in Hernando; Thomas Lloyd, Jr. in Deltona, Florida; Melissa Johnson in Chanhassen, Minnesota; Joe Purscell in Waukee, Iowa; Laura Kinnard, Julie Purscell, Karen Purscell, and Christina Purscell in Des Moines; 20 great grandchildren; and three great-great grandchildren.

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