Jean Purcell

PURCELL, Jean Ms. Jean Irene Purcell (nee Hauserman, formerly Cook and Janco), of St. Marys, GA, passed away the afternoon of Monday, April 1st at The University of Florida Hospital. Born in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, Jean was a Registered Nurse who received her B.A. in 1971 and her M.A. in 1975 from the University of Dayton. She continued her education at The George Washington University where she received her PhD in Human Resource Development in 1987. An accomplished and decorated scholar in Nursing, Jean worked the night shift as a nurse at Kettering Hospital and was then hired to teach Nursing at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, OH, where she was an Instructor from 1971-1974, then rose through the ranks as Assistant Professor from 1974-1977, Associate Professor from 1977-1980, and Professor of Nursing from 1980-1981. She continued her career as Professor of Experience-Based Education from 1980-1986 and finally worked as Accreditation Self-Study Coordinator from 1986-2001. After her illustrious career of more than thirty years at Sinclair, she retired and was hired back again for three years after that. A true citizen of the world, Jean was named a Fulbright Scholar in 1989, one of the first people from a community college to receive this honor. Her work took her around the world, from India, where she educated and trained students in Applied Technology to enhance life skills, to Africa, where one of her projects was to plant trees and stop erosion. Throughout her life, Jean traveled to all seven continents, climbed the Great Wall of China, and traversed to Machu Picchu. This love of travel was passed down to her children and grandchildren, whose studies, travels, and work brought them from England to Tokyo to Amsterdam to The Gambia in Africa. Always one to embrace a good adventure, Jean enjoyed tennis, bridge, speed skating, wine, friends, cross country skiing, and laughter, all in the name of good health. She worked as president of Miami Valley Dance Company, was a member of the Kettering Striders, and sponsored international students to enhance her love of life, education, and people. She giggled and laughed with lifetime friends Joyce Kelly, Barbara Davidson, Roberta Reinhold, and Judy Dunlop. Most of all, Jean was a beloved mother and grandmother. She found the greatest joys of her life in her four children, eight grandchildren, their spouses, and one great-grandchild. A horrific car accident in 1974 helped to make her the warrior she became, raising four children as a single mom while working the night shift at the hospital and continuing her education. She will be dearly missed by her children and grandchildren. She is preceded in death by father Fred Hauserman, mother Irene Hauserman, siblings Fred and John, their spouses Dolores and Roseanne, and husbands Bernard Janco and Byron "Barney" Cook. Jean is survived by husband Tom Purcell; children Nancy Janco Budde and Jim Budde, Bernard and Jennifer Janco, L. George and Pam Janco, Susan Janco Frizzi and Rudy Frizzi; grandchildren Kristen Budde and Patrick Selinger, Katherine Irene Budde and Scott Hurlbut, David Budde, Margaret Janco, Leslie Janco, Emilia Frizzi, Giuliana Frizzi, Clara Frizzi; and great-granddaughter Elle Budde Selinger. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Kettering, OH at 11am on Friday, May 10. The family will receive friends at 10:30am. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the scholarship endowed in her honor: Sinclair Community College Foundation, 444 West Third Street, Dayton, OH 45402. Please note Jean Cook Scholarship in the subject line.