John A. Purdie ’41

John A. Purdie ’41 died peacefully July 21, following several years of declining health. He was born in Fayetteville on October 27, 1919, to Agnes Malloy Purdie and John Alexander Purdie. He graduated from Fayetteville Senior High School in 1936, serving as class president, and from Davidson College in 1941. He served in the Army in World War II and in the Korean War. After several years in the insurance business, he returned to Fayetteville in 1950 and joined his mother and stepfather, Arthur K. McCallum, in their boating and fishing business, A.K. McCallum Co., retiring in 2002. He was a longtime member and admirer of First Presbyterian Church, joining while in high school when he wasn’t good enough to make the Baptist church league basketball team and the Presbyterians only had four players. He served as a deacon, an elder, and was a member of the Calvin Sunday School Class. He is survived by his wife of fifty-nine years, Celia Grantham Purdie, P.O. Box 3128, Bald Head Island, N.C. 28461-7000; sons, John A. Purdie, Jr. (Barbara) and Alan Purdie; grandchildren, Matthew C. Purdie (Elizabeth) and Joanna Jenkins (Joe); and two great-granddaughters, Caroline and Sarah Purdie.