Press enter after choosing selection

Henry Purfield Dies At Age Of 97 Years

Henry Purfield Dies At Age Of 97 Years image
Parent Issue
Day
13
Month
December
Year
1943
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
Related
Obituary
OCR Text

Henry Purfield, one of Ann Arbor's and the University's "grand old men" and one of the city's oldest residents at 97 years, died at his home, 528 Walnut St., this morning following a very brief illness.
Mr. Purfield, who until very recently had been actively engaged in his work at the University dental school, had been employed by the University for the 75 years since he came to Ann Arbor in December of 1869.
Started As Carpenter
A native of England where he was born in Feb. 9, 1846, Mr. Purfield started his work-a-day life as a carpenter and joiner. He served his apprenticeship in these trades in England and also studied bookkeeping and accounting to such good extent that he held for some time a position as a booking clerk on an English railway.
When he first came to Ann Arbor, Mr. Purfield was employed by the University as a janitor and carpenter. He will be remembered by some oldtime students as the man who rang the campus bell to call classes together.
With the establishment of the school of dentistry in 1875, Mr. Purfield began duties as janitor and custodian of the building and from that time until 1907 he followed the school from building to building until the present dental school structure was established.
For several years Mr. Purfield served the dental school as an accountant in charge of the gold, teeth and other materials used in the laboratories.
Did Odd Jobs
In 1919, he was placed on a semi-retirement basis but continued for most of the rest of his life to spend many weeks each year at the University repairing cabinets and desks at the dental school and performing numerous odd jobs which utilized his first trades of carpentry and joining.
Mr. Purfield is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Emilie J. Moore, Glendale, Calif.; Mrs. Lemont V. Stewart, Hollywood, Calif., and Miss Agnes Purfield, who for many years kept a home for her father; two sons, William P. Purfield, Ann Arbor, and James Purfield, Jackson; two sisters in England; nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at the Muehlig chapel at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday with Rev. William P. Lemon officiating. Burial will be in Forest Hill cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel.