William Russell Purcell

William Russell “Bill” Purcell, 84, of  Nampa, ID passed away August 2, 2017 at his home surrounded by his family.

Bill was born April 30, 1933 at the Little Flower Hospital in Weiser, ID. He was the youngest of five children born to Merl Benjamin and Hetty Elois Lewis Purcell.

 He was raised on the Weiser Flat, attended grade school at Hale. During WWll his father and brother Harold, were serving in the war. Bill helped on the farm, and had the run of the town and played and fished on the Snake River. At that young age, he had his own Huckleberry Finn adventures. While attending high school in Weiser he was on the track team, played baseball and football, graduating from Hooker Hall in 1951. (Seriously)

 His father ran the employment office, so Bill was never out of a job. He did everything from baling hay, stripping bark off logs and ran sheep for the McMullen’s .

 He volunteered for the US Army in 1953, enlisting with his childhood friend Dale Sharp (an ongoing friendship of 79 years). Because he could earn an extra $50 per month he joined the paratroops, as a member of the 82nd Airborne. He liked jumping out of planes. Once out of the service, he and Dale decided to go to the University of Idaho. He was a charter member of Theta Chi fraternity. Bill graduated in 1959 with a degree in Agronomy.

 In August, he was offered a position with Rogers Brothers potato plant in Idaho Falls, ID. He decided he could afford to get married, so on the 5th of September 1959, he married Billie Fae Howell in Weiser. She had 3 children (Alan, Vicki and Blair), and in the next 18 months he adopted them. While in Idaho Falls Brenda, Russell and Bronwyn were born.

In 1968, he changed employment to Western Farmers/Carnation in Nampa, ID. He was a field man, field manager, plant manager and procurement manager. Field man was his favorite position. He also had his own businesses with potato seed cutting, sprout nipping and he also refinished and sold antiques. He built a huge green house to grow and sell his hydroponic tomatoes. In 1985, they moved to Pasco, Washington where he worked as a field man for Lamb Weston.

He retired in 1995 and they returned to Nampa. Through the years he remodeled several houses that they bought. Fishing was his favorite pastime. He loved to hunt geese, ducks, pheasants, deer and elk. He loved to joke and tease and laugh. He loved online poker and watching Fox news. He loved to watch football games, especially the BSU Broncos. Bill and Billie traveled to France, Ireland, England, Wales, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica. He was a history buff and enjoyed genealogy. He loved telling stories about his youth. He was a patriot.

If we could sum up his life in a few words, it would be: “He was a great husband, dad and our best friend.”

Bill was preceded in death by his parents; his siblings: Harold, Helen Claeson, Betty Tucciarone, Lois Nored; grandson Christopher Purcell; and son-in-law Keith Lopez.

He is survived by his wife Billie; his children: Alan Purcell, Vicki Nelson (Scott), Blair Purcell (Shirley), Brenda Nelson (David), Russell Purcell, and Bronwyn Lopez; 19 grandchildren, and 43 great-grandchildren.

We would like to thank Drs. Michael Dee, J Michael Sadaj, Steven Von Flue, all the St. Alphonsus staff for the tender care you gave him. Also, many thanks to our daughter Bronwyn and granddaughter Karee who lovingly nursed him to the end.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Zeyer Funeral Chapel in Nampa. 208-467-7300

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 12 at the West LDS Stake Center, 1500 Smith Ave in Nampa with a viewing from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. prior to the services.