Exciting news...but still looking

It's been a while since I posted to his blog, which is a shame given so much has happened in the past few years. 

In my search for my missing Purdy roots I decided that I needed to use Facebook more.  this social media site has become so widely used that I knew my chances of finding Purdy's were pretty good.  So, I sat at my computer and did some searching for Richard Purdy of Philadelphia.  I came across a few Richard Purdy's but none of them believed they were tied to the Richard Joseph Purdy that I was searching for information on.  After exhausting all my Richard Purdy Facebook search results I decided that I needed to look for any Purdy in the Philadelphia area.  so I widened my search to include anyone with the last name Purdy and after one day of reaching out I came across a Veronica Purdy who said that the story of an orphan in Philadelphia named Richard Purdy sounded like it could be her uncle Richard.  she went on to tell me that her Father had a brother named Richard and that both of them spent time in the care of the state while they were young.  She said that they also had an older brother named William.  This was new information which made me wonder if I had the right Richard.  Every thing we knew about Richard said that there wasn't any family and that he was just an orphan.  Veronica shared with me a picture of her Father Ed and right away I saw traits that reminded me of my Father but I wasn't sure if that was just wishful thinking and hoping or if I was actually seeing genetic similarities.  ancestry.com had the Y test that male's could take to determine if they have the same father or not.  but the Y test only works with boys and as of right now my father was the only boy and there was nobody from Veronica's family that could take the test to confirm if we were on the right track or not.  We were able to get our hands on a death certificate for a Richard Joseph Purdy that listed cause of death to be complications of alcoholism.  on that certificate it listed a Richard Purdy Jr. as the next of kin.  This certificate was confirmed to have been for Veronica's Uncle since the time of death and cause of death matched things she knew about Richard.  My communication with Veronica was exciting but we both felt that we needed a little more proof before we were willing to call each other cousins.

I decided that I would make an album available to the public on Facebook.  If anyone searched Richard, Ed, William, Keith, or Purdy it was going to bring up this album in the search
results.  I decided this would increase my chances of finding people.  finding Veronica and her Sister's was exciting and was full of possibilities but it wasn't quite enough yet to say my search was done.  All the new information I received was verifiable through ancestry.com there indeed was two boys who didn't live at home named Ed and William.  there was a Richard at the same time who was living as a boarder during the same time when just an infant.  Could this Richard be the Richard I was connected to?   

The Search...

I had very little to go off of when this unquenchable thirst to find my Biological Grandfather began.  There have been times over the course of my father's life when he has tried to reach out and find his father.  After all, that's what Richard said when he left my Nana and my dad back in the 50's , "If he wants to find me he will".  My father has made many phone calls and most of them have turned up with nothing...there's not much point in sharing about those attempts but below are a few stories my father shared with me when seemingly ordinary days gave way to unusual circumstances which brought my father to a point where he thought he was close to finding his Dad only to find that he was left with more questions than answers. 

There was a time in the late 80's My father did a lot of traveling with A.N.F. Pet food.  At that time our family lived in New Jersey and would fly in and out of Philadelphia frequently.  My father would park his car away from the airport and would call a shuttle to come pick him up to take him to his waiting vehicle.  One day when picking up the phone to call the shuttle they asked his name and he replied with "This is Mr. Purdy" , "Oh, Mr. Purdy!  We'll be right there" the dispatcher replied. My father was surprised at the tone of the man on the other side of the line.  He obviously thought he knew my father though my father was surprised at that.  these workers must see countless people a day why would he remember him so well?  When my Dad's ride arrived the man was surprised to not see the Mr. Purdy that he thought he was picking up.  He asked if he was "Mr. Purdy's son"  to which my father replied that well... yes, he was.  My father told the driver about him not actually knowing his father.  The Driver admitted that my dad did resemble the Mr. Purdy he sees frequently at the airport.  Due to the shuttle company not wanting to hurt their relationship with a long time customer they could not give any information about the Mr. Purdy they knew but the exchange sure did have my father wondering who that Mr. Purdy was and if they were related.

In the 90's
My family lived in Smyrna Delaware.  We resided on a 4 mile country block and my Mother and Father often enjoyed their morning and evening walks around that block.  about a quarter way around the block there was a local farmer who would sell farm fresh eggs and garden produce.  My parents would often exchange waves and greetings as they made their way around their daily fitness rout.  One time my parents visited the home in hopes of buying some Eggs.  This opened up an opportunity for conversation and when the man learned that my father's last name was Purdy he was quick to ask if he was related to Richard Purdy.  My father of course had to reply that yes, He was related to a Richard Purdy but proceeded to tell the farmer the story he had shared so many times before.   The Farmer talked about how he and his wife knew a man from his days working at Scott Paper in Philadelphia who's name was Richard Purdy.  He said that the Richard he knew had moved to either Tuscon Arizona or Texas but could not recall which.  My father came back to the Farmer to share with him the only picture he had of his Dad.  Both the Farmer and his wife were quick to agree that the man in that picture looked a lot like the Richard they knew.

After having this conversation with the Farmers my father was curious and decided he would search for contact information for any Richard Purdy's in Tuscon or in the State of Texas.  In his phone calls he had an interesting conversation with a man named Richard Purdy who claimed to not be the Richard my father was looking for but all in the same breath asked how my father was doing.  My father thought it was strange that this man would care about how he was doing if in fact he had no familial connection to him.  My dad told him a little about his life, and his family,  the man seemed genuinely interested as they spoke but the conversation ended without any further confirmation... My father believed that while he just might have spoken to his father, he had no proof of it and may never know if in fact he was related to that man.


So, is my Father's Dad in Texas? Is he in Tuscon? Is he dead? or maybe still alive? Did he work for Scott Paper? Did he stay in the military? was he a company executive who used the same shuttle service my dad did in Philadelphia?  ... Oh the questions we have... Did he have a family after my Dad was born?  did he tell his family about the half brother they had?  Did he ever wonder what his oldest Son was doing?  Maybe someone reading this blog knows, maybe it's you.... Then again... maybe it's wishful thinking.

Here Goes Nothin...

I've seen it many times on amazing stories found on line, on the news, or just through the grape vine... Children who were orphaned later making connection to their long lost family years and years later.  Well, I'm hoping this message might find the eye of my long lost family... maybe it's you!

I am the daughter or Keith L. Purdy.  My Dad is the Son of Florence G. Lucas and Richard Purdy of Philadelphia P.A.  There is very little Evidence of who my Grandfather is since according to my Nana he left when my father was very young.  the Story my Nana shared about Richard Purdy was a short one.  I'm going to shorten it a little more in order to keep your attention in hopes you might read this entry to it's ending.  :)

Florence was young 17 years old to be exact when she found out she was pregnant.  Richard Purdy who was (her boyfriend at the time) was the Father of this child.  Florence's parents were very insistent that they get married and so on the 17th of February 1950 they traveled from Philadelphia PA to Elkton MD were married.  Richard was not around much due to being in the Army and by the time my Father was Three Richard was gone.  According to Florance the last time she talked to Richard she asked him "What about your Son?" to which according to her he replied "If he wants to find me he will".  There was very little that Florence recalls about Richard.  One think she knew was that he was an orphan in Philadelphia as a child and didn't have any family.  The other thing she knew was that he was in the Army.  Below are both the Marriage Application and the the only picture we have of Richard Purdy. 

According to the Marriage Application Richard was 24 at the time he married my Nana in February 1950. She was not 100% truthfull on the application stating that she was already 18 at the time of the application. In fact she would not turn 18 until November 2nd of 1950 almost 2 months after she would give birth to their Son Keith Leroy Purdy.  Since it was easy for Nana to fudg her age on the application we are not 100% positive that Richard didn't do the same.  Was he 24? was he a little younger? or maybe older...We are not 100% sure but for now we will asume that he was 24 in 1950 which would have put his birth year at about 1925 or 1926 depending on what month of the year he was born.

Richard Purdy around 1950

 

 

So, none of this information sounds familiar to you at all...that's ok, Richard was very young and this part of his life might have been a part he was ready to move on from.  Starting his life over with a new wife and new family could have been very appealing and wanting to keep his life as simple as possible could have been his goal.  Consider the possibilities

Are you a Purdy? Do you know one?

If you have found yourself reading this blog it's probably because you are a Purdy...or maybe you know a Purdy.  Maybe you are not a Purdy and don't know a Purdy but came across this blog by simply miss spelling Pretty.  No doubt the very fact that I would write about this odd event in your day causes you to feel a need to keep reading - well, that's ok - I welcome you!  My name is Rachelle, and I am a Purdy.  I don't carry the name since getting married but I absolutely love my maiden name.  The love I have for the name Purdy is a love that grew with much tribulation.  As a child it was a name that brought many social trials.  We all have been ten years old before so you know how mean kids can be.  "Rachelle's purdy dumb", "Rachelle's purdy ugly", yeah - there were some tough days on the school playground for sure.  Luckily the use of my name changed with the maturity level, and intent of those I came in contact with.  Yes, by the time I turned 14 Purdy had now become a very important piece of a pick up line.  Rachelle Purdy, so - Rachelle, has anyone ever told you how Purdy you are?  Oy!...they always seemed to think they were the first to use it.  But at least the use of my name was a little more friendly in nature so I will not complain further about that.  About a day after I married my husband I experienced the tinge of loss when I wrote my name for the first time and Purdy was no longer there...To this day I wonder why I didn't just move Purdy over to my middle name slot.  So sad that I would just let such a great name drop off!... oh well.. I don't need the Purdy name to know who I am.  I am a Purdy,  but what exactly does that mean? 

This brings me to the point of this Blog:  Sadly as much as I love my Purdy name I fear the knowledge of my purdy roots only run as deep as my Father Keith Leroy Purdy's biological dad, Richard Purdy. We know very little about Richard since my father has not seen him since he was 3 years old and living in Philadelphia P.A. in the 1950's.  The sole purpose of this blog is to help you help me and my family, (My father- Keith, Mother- Joan, and my six (yes, that's right 6) siblings) find the family we never knew.  Perhaps you are familiar with a person named Richard Joseph Purdy of PA, or Richard Leroy Purdy of TX, or maybe the Richard you know has no middle name at all.  I know it is very likely that my father may have half siblings out there, which means that me and my Sister's and Brother have cousins!  I don't expect that these possible family members are at all aware of our existence especially that of my Father... So if you are a Purdy, or know some Purdy's I ask that you keep an open mind and consider the information you will receive while reading my regular post in this Blog.  The information I have, though not extensive, has a lot of story behind them so please read on, learn more, and if you find that you might have some information that might help in even the smallest way please share.  Thank you for reading... and for being and important part of Purdy Family Connect.