Marjorie Purnell

MARJORIE EYNON PURNELL, September 6, 1928 – March 29, 2011, beloved wife of Edward W. (deceased), cherished mother of Ed (Inwoo Lee) of Pohang, Korea; Laura of Euclid; Jennie (Petri Flint) of Harvard, Massachusetts; and Frank (Athena Webster) of Castro Valley, California, grandmother of Jennifer, Ali, Zita, Rebecca, Eric, Jessie, Dan, Matt, Tom, Jessica, Katarina and Brooke. A Memorial Service will be held at Wade Chapel, Lake View Cemetery, on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. Friends and family are invited to the Purnell residence following the service. Interment is private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Cleveland Botanical Garden, 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH. 44106. Funeral arrangements handled by the Mullally Funeral Home.

Marjorie Eynon Purnell was born on September 6, 1928 in Youngstown to Samuel Eynon, a steelworker from England, and the former Jennie Goldie, a school teacher from Liberty Township, Ohio. Marjorie graduated from Rayen High School in Youngstown and from Rutgers University in New Jersey. In June 1950, she married Edward W. Purnell, her husband of 43 years. Their honeymoon was interrupted by the Korean War, which sent Edward to Yokohama, Japan and Marjorie to San Francisco, where she clerked at Macys.

Marjorie was a resident of Euclid for 55 years. While raising four children, she developed an interest in flower arranging. This hobby became a full time vocation that would take her from Lakeshore Garden Club in Euclid, where she served as president, to the National Garden Clubs, where she served on the board for 11 years. She also belonged to the Cleveland Flower Arrangers Guild, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, where she served as President of the Board of Trustees from 1985 to 1987, and the Ohio Judges Council. In 1995, she represented the National Garden Club’s Central Atlantic Region at the White House, where she arranged flowers for the President and his guests. Marjorie also taught in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools.