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Cecile Montgomery Purcell, a longtime resident of Atlantic Beach, Florida died Saturday, April 25, 2015. She was born in Leon on June 2, 1918. Her parents were John Chapman Montgomery and Gertrude Binning Montgomery. Cecile grew up in Marietta and graduated from Marietta High School in 1936.
She was predeceased by her husband, John (Jack) Calvin Purcell; her parents; two sisters, Wilma Montgomery Herndon and LaJuana Montgomery Harbour; and a brother, Lawrence Montgomery.
Survivors include her daughter, Sherry Purcell Kisser; her son, Bradford A. (Katherine Ryder) Purcell; step-son, Robert A. (Christina) Purcell; five grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; her sister, Nelma Montgomery Karns of Stillwater; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Cecile was a talented artist and won many awards in juried shows. Her paintings were acclaimed in several solo shows. She organized a number of painting groups and arranged workshops for their members. She exhibited with art groups in Michigan, South Carolina, Georgia, Montana and Florida. Her paintings are in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. She enjoyed teaching painting. In recent years, with low vision, she changed her painting techniques and was able to continue studio painting. She was a member of the Women of Vision at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. She was also a genealogist and researched several lines of her family including the Montgomery and Binning lines. She was a member of the Jean Ribault Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and served two terms as chapter Regent.
In spite of many age and health issues, she remained fiercely independent and active in her many interests. She was passionate about her painting, was matriarch of her large and loving family, loyal to friends and devoted to her faith.
Cecile earned a BS degree in education at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. She graduated cum laude in the class of 1940 and was a member of Kappa Delta Pi. She had an outstanding business career in New York City in the 1940’s as researcher and security analyst for an investment banker on Wall Street. Later she was a financial and personal secretary to a well-known philanthropist. She also worked for General Motors in Cleveland and Halliburton in Duncan.
In Grosse Pointe, Michigan in the 1960’s, she devoted her artistic talents to designing textiles for various churches and wrote curriculum for summer vacation Bible school for two years. She was twice recognized by the United Methodist Women for her ministry for the church school and her artistic contributions to the worship ministry of the church.
Memorial services will be held at a later date in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan and Oklahoma. Her ashes will be inhumed in the Memorial Garden at the Grosse Point United Methodist Church, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan joining the ashes of her late husband and grandson. The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the Fleet Landing Endowment Scholarship fund or Hartfelt Ministries, PO Box 54699, Jacksonville, FL 32245.
This obituary included a photo of Mrs. Purcell.
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