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Mike Purdy Obituary
As a husband, father, grandfather, manager, historian, and writer, Mike had a profound impact on those around him. He was kind and gentle, an optimist, a deep listener, intelligent, and found humor in life. He saw all of life as ultimately theological and sought daily to live out his faith in his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Mike was born to Allen Roger Kirschner and Louise Anne (Lynch Winter) Kirschner, in Akron, Colorado, where his father taught English at the local high school. A little over a month after his birth, the family, including his older brother Stephen Allen, moved to New York for a few months to be closer to Mike's paternal grandparents (Jack and Frances Kirschner), then to Greenwich, Connecticut until 1961, when they moved to Princeton, New Jersey where Mike's father took a position as chairman of the English department at Princeton High School. In May of 1964, with his parents' marriage disintegrating, his mother moved with Mike and Steve to California, where she had grown up.
Mike graduated from San Marino High School where he served as ASB president. After graduation in 1972, Mike attended the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA), where he was elected student body president. He served as a congressional intern in Washington, DC in the summer of 1973 during the Watergate scandal and sat in on hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee. He graduated in 1976 with a double major in business administration and public administration.
After graduating, he met his wife, Catherine, and they were married in May 1978. He obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1979. Upon graduation, he embarked on what would become a 30-year career managing government contracts, first for the City of Seattle for more than 21 years, then the Seattle Housing Authority, and finally the University of Washington (UW).
Mike and Catherine moved to West Seattle in 1980, where they bought a house and started their family. They had two children, Janet (1982) and David (1985). During the 1980s, with significant support from Catherine, he also obtained a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Mike retired as contracts manager from the UW in February 2010 and launched a successful public contracting consulting business for the next decade, advising government agencies, providing training, and writing a popular industry blog.
In retirement, Mike also launched another career as a U.S. presidential historian, starting a web site (presidentialhistory.com), authoring two books, writing articles, and participating in media interviews.
After being diagnosed with cancer in 2019, he struggled with the emotional and spiritual roller-coaster of terminal illness. With the support of his wife Catherine, other family members, and many friends, he sought to find joy on the journey while pondering his legacy in the world. In 2022, he wrote a candid memoir about his "uncertain journey."
Mike was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Catherine; daughter Janet Purdy of Jordanville, NY; son David Purdy (Melissa) of Seattle, WA; grandson Michael Purdy; brother Steve Kirschner of Oceano, CA; sister Tambra Faezeli of Portland, OR; other relatives, and a host of dear friends with whom he was privileged to walk through this life.
A celebration of Mike's life will be held at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle on Saturday, August 26 at 3:00 p.m. and will be live streamed. More details at mpurdy.com/memorial.
The family requests that remembrances in Mike's name be made to:
Regent College Foundation: https://rcfusa.org
The Hun School - Allen Kirschner Scholarship Fund: https://www.hunschool.org
Langham Partnership: https://us.langham.org
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
RJ Manning
November 1, 2023
My condolences to the Purdy family. I knew Mike in high school. He was smart, sincere, and accomplished. He was voted Student Body President because he was the good, honest man you would trust to represent you. As I recall, he also was member of the varsity football team as a sophomore, which was rare. I, along with his other classmates admired him. He set an example for the rest of us to live by. God Bless Mike Purdy.
Gary Van Hee
September 5, 2023
I am a retired Purchasing administrator from a local school district. Mike's training and training documentation was critical to my success. As my career started I sought out training offered by Mike. As my career advanced I contracted with him to guide my peers and those who I mentored. Mike's training helped my school district to have clean audits for over 22 years. God bless you and your family. He was a wonderful man.
Lourdes Coss
August 28, 2023
I met Mike at an NIGP Forum. We connected right away. We stayed in touch and often compared notes on our teaching and speaking gigs. He helped me promote my book and was very supportive when I started my business. I´m so grateful that I got to meet Mike. He was a generous and kind person. He will be missed. May he rest in peace!
Michael Bevis (Chicago,IL)
August 28, 2023
Mike was a great guy, a credit to our profession, and a true gentleman. His impact and contributions are felt across the country. We are all better for having known him and will miss him.
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John Carpita
August 23, 2023
Mike and I when I too had a beard.
John Carpita
August 23, 2023
Mike was an amazingly brilliant, yet humble, man. All of us Washington State public sector contracting folks owe him a great deal of respect and awe. He was the gold standard, the one person that we could all turn to for the best possible advice on public sector contracting of all types.
I worked in Seattle for 22 years as the Public Works Consultant for the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC). My principal focus was purchasing and public works contracting advice and training for local public agencies. When Mike started his consulting business, he graciously volunteered his time and expenses to a highly successful series of MRSC sponsored training workshops spanning several years and numerous locations across Washington State. One time, we even did our presentation before an audience of Audit Managers from the State Auditor Office (SAO). (I still have the coffee mug from that day.)
Mike´s engaging personality, humor, and obvious mastery of (even arcane) public sector contacting issues easily made his portion of the training the highlight of each workshop. I remember one slide in particular. It showed a huge cabin cruiser with a dinghy hanging on its back. The dinghy was labeled `Original Contract´ and the cruiser was labeled `Change Orders´.
What was also obvious is his faith. In reading his obituary, I was intrigued, but not surprised, to find that he had obtained a Master of Divinity degree. What was surprising to me was his change of career to that of a successful presidential historian. In my estimation that reveals the ultimate depth of his intellect.
In conclusion, Mike well deserves the ultimate accolade, that of his Heavenly Father: "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"
Terry Sexton Segerberg
August 16, 2023
I've know Mike since high school - where he was always such a humble, elegant guy. I remember thinking that way about him even then when we were so young, which is a true testament to his character. Truly a fine human being. In more recent years I reached out to him and we shared great exchanges about life, illness and politics. He will live forever in my memories as that same humble, elegant guy who inspired so many of us. RIP Mike.
John Black
August 14, 2023
When Mike was student body president at UPS (University of Puget Sound), I was the chairman of campus films. My desk in the ASB office was behind Mike's, but separated by a partition. He was often there in the morning before classes began, and we would speak briefly before both of us headed off to our classes. Mike was a sincere and fair-minded guy, and we very occasionally did favors for one another. I'm very sorry to learn of his passing but nevertheless honored to have known him. He certainly led an exemplary life.
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