MEDIA, PA – Doris Purcell (nee Knapp) passed away Wednesday, August 8, 2018 in Media, PA. She was born at home in Farmers Mills, NY to Hattie and Holmes Knapp on July 12, 1926. Doris attended schools in Poughquag and Pawling, then graduated in 1946 from Vassar Brothers Nursing School. That same year, she married George Purcell.
She is survived by Cathleen Purcell Darrell (m Christopher Darrell, Swarthmore, PA) and Diane Purcell Boujikian (m. Mark Boujikian, Fishkill, NY), three grandsons, Collin Darrell (m. Kirsten, Kapaa, HI), Alex Darrell (Fort Worth, TX), and Noah Boujikian (Wappingers Falls, NY). Doris was predeceased by her parents, her husband George, her sisters Marion Hart and Blanche Hart, and her brother Wilber Knapp.
Doris and George lived more than 40 years in Fishkill. Doris worked for over 20 years as a nurse in a local OBGYN office. She also delighted in being a docent at Boscobel Historic House. For some of that time, Doris and George were snowbirds, going between a cottage at Sylvan Lake and their home in Newport Ritchie, Fl. Eight years ago, Doris moved to Media PA to be close to her daughter, Cathleen.
To some family and friends, Doris was Dorey, Dot, Aunt Dodie, and for a few years, Polkadottie the Clown with George, aka Roscoe. And to her sweet grandsons, she was Grammy. Doris was an accomplished artist, including painting, sewing, knitting, as well as being an expert wallpaper-hanger. In her later years, she delighted in her three grandsons and over the last few years, thoroughly enjoyed pictures and stories about her great grandchildren, Harper, Paxton, and Skylaya, in Hawaii.
Doris led a life well-lived and will be missed by all who knew her.
Visiting hours will be at 895 NY-82, Hopewell Junction, NY, from 9 am to 10:30 am on Monday, August 13, followed by a brief celebration of her life from 10:30 to 11:00. Family members will attend interment immediately following at Beekman Cemetery in Poughquag. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to “Grant Children’s Wishes” of Make-A-Wish Foundation.
