Col. (Ret.) Benjamin Harrison Purcell Jr.

PURCELL CLARKESVILLE, GEORGIA Benjamin Harrision Purcell, Junior Born February 14, 1928 Died April 2, 2013 Funeral services for Col. (Ret.) Benjamin Harrison Purcell, Jr. age 85, of Clarkesville, Georgia will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Bethelehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville. The Rev. Jack Hancox, retired Army Chaplain Dan Payne and Rev. Furman Lewis will officiate with internment to follow the service at Level Grove Baptist Church cemetery. Col. Purcell died Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at home surrounded by family and love. Born on February 14, 1928 Col. Purcell was the son of the late Benjamin H. and Hattie Oliver Purcell. He was a career military officer who served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946 and in the United States Army from 1950 to 1980. Col. Purcell served with distinction in staff and command positions throughout the United States and Europe and during combat tours in Korea and Vietnam. He spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was the highest ranking U.S. Army POW held during the war. After returning home Purcell studied and taught at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration at Shippensburg State College in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He served as 3rd Brigade Commander at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Professor of Military Science and Commandant of Cadets at his alma mater, North Georgia College in Dahlonega. Col. Purcell was awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart and Parachutist and Combat Infantryman badges. He retired from the Army in 1980. After retiring Col. Purcell served as a Georgia State Representative and member of the State Veterans Service Board. He owned and operated Purcell's Christmas Tree Farm in Clarkesville and served on the Board of Directors for the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, was a former president of the Clarkesville Lions Club and Site Selection Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Georgia. Col. Purcell was an active member and deacon of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville. He and his wife, Anne, co-authored a book about their wartime experiences called Love and Duty. They spoke extensively about how the Lord took care of them during that difficult time in their lives. Col. Purcell was a soldier for peace and a warrior for the Lord. Survivors include his devoted wife of 62 years, Anne Grant Purcell of Clarkesville; daughters Debbie, Sherri and Joy Purcell of Clarkesville; sons and daughters-in-law David and Xiomara Perez Purcell of Alexandria, Virginia, and Clifford and Lisa Pandres Purcell, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; granddaughter and spouse Clairessa and Chinua Raine, grandchildren Nace, Shayna, Grant and Daniel Purcell and great-grand-children Isaiah and Tyson Purcell. Ben is also survived by his brother and sister-in-law Vernon T. and Catherine Taylor Purcell and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his daughter Clarice Purcell, brothers James Evard Purcell and Howard Wheeler and sisters, Ollie Ree Purcell Alley and Mildred Purcell Hill. The family will receive friends at Hillside Memorial Chapel, 5495 Highway 197 North, Clarkesville, on Friday, April 5, 2013 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. and from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.hillsidememorialchapel.com. Memorial donations may be sent to the Bethlehem Baptist Church Missions Fund at P.O. Box 488, Clarkesville, Georgia 30523 or the Col. Benjamin Purcell Fund at the University of North Georgia. Make checks payable to the UNG Foundation, P.O. Box 1599, Dahlonega, Georgia 30533. Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel, Clarkesville. 706-754-6256.

This obituary was originally published in the Winston-Salem Journal.