Jackson Deen Purcell

Jackson Deen Purcell

Jackson Deen Purcell of Boerne, Texas, passed away on March 28, 2022, just shy of his 81st birthday.
Jack was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1941 to Doyle and Hilda Purcell. He spent his childhood on his family’s farm. 

After graduating from Eastern Michigan University in 1964, he began active duty in the U.S. Army, having been commissioned as a second lieutenant through ROTC. He came home in July of
1964 to marry his college sweetheart, Mary Campbell, whom he adored.
Jack served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1984 after a successful career as an Army social work officer. He earned a master of social work degree from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and spent most of his military career working in army hospitals, where he supervised the mental health of soldiers and their families. A personal highlight for Jack was counseling POW’s returning from Vietnam. His military service was recognized with several distinguished awards.
After his military retirement, Jack spent several years as a counselor in Christian counseling clinics and 15 years as dean of students and vice president for student affairs at two different Christian universities. His love for college students made those years especially rewarding, and he enjoyed contact with some of those students until the end of his life.
Jack was a person of deep faith. Throughout his life, he served the church through teaching, writing and music. In his later years, he enjoyed writing a weekly column for the faith page of The Boerne Star, his hometown newspaper.
Jack developed lifelong friendships in each of the places he and Mary lived. Over the years, they hosted weekly small groups in their home for Bible study, fellowship and good food. Two of his greatest joys in retirement were golfing with dear friends Johnny, Alan and Tim, and enjoying Mary’s Tacos each week with his close friend, Rick.
Jack is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mary Purcell; son Mark Purcell and his wife, Emily; son Steven Purcell and his wife, Amy; granddaughter Jade and her husband, Evan, and their two children, Easton and Scarlett; and his granddaughter, Ainsley Purcell, who brought such joy to him later in life. Jack is also survived by his beloved siblings, Roseland Klein of Ft. Davis, Texas, Joan Benjamin of Cleveland, Tennessee, and Edward Purcell and wife Carole of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

It was impossible to know Jack for more than a very short time without encountering his rich sense of humor. He would often start laughing at his own jokes before he could finish them. He maintained his sense of humor to the very end.
A memorial service for Jack will be held at St. Helena’s Episcopal Church in Boerne, Texas on April 29, 2022, at 11 a.m. A private interment at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery will be held at a later date.
Our family wishes to thank the wonderful staff of Anton’s Assisted Living in Boerne for the exceptional loving care they gave Jack during the last days of his life. 

In lieu of gifts, please consider a donation in honor of Jack made to: A Rocha USA (https://arocha.us/donate) or the Laity Lodge Scholarship fund (https://www.laitylodge.org/give/).