James N. Purdy

James N. Purdy, 87,

Bismarck, died peacefully

February 23, 2019 at The

Baptist Health Care

Center. At his side was

his daughter, Amy

Schmidt and son-in-law,

Dr. Sid Schmidt of Man-

dan.

A memorial mass will

be celebrated by the Re-

verend Wayne Sattler, Fri-

day, May 24 at Saint

Anne’s Catholic Church

in Bismarck at 10:00 AM.

A vigil will take place the

night before at the

Bismarck Funeral Home

followed by the rosary.

There will be no viewing

as cremation has oc-

curred. Burial will take

place at St. Mary’s

Cemetery following the

Mass.

Jim was a beloved hus-

band of fifty-five years, fa-

ther of four, and grandfa-

ther of ten. He was a man

of integrity and humility

and lived a wonderful and

fulfilling life, while posi-

tively impacting many

especially his family. He

courageously and without

self-pity endured the

moderate progression of

vascular dementia the last

ten years of his life in ad-

dition to fighting cancer,

West Nile and other vari-

ous health issues in his

later years.

Jim was the fourth child

born to Mark and Edna

(LeFleur) Purdy in Minot

on May 25, 1931. When

Jim was just five years old

during the Great Depres-

sion, his father, a Great

Northern Railroad En-

gineer and Fireman died

suddenly, leaving his

mother and siblings in a

major crisis. His father’s

sisters, felt it was best for

them to raise Jim and his

younger brother in the

Twin Cities. Due to his

mother’s resistance and

Jim’s oldest brother,

Mike’s self-sacrifice, Jim

and Paul were able to stay

with their mother and

home in Minot. Mike

withdrew from college,

worked for the railroad

and assumed the role of

bread winner for the

Purdy’s. Without him and

Aid to Dependent Chil-

dren, surely the fate of

Jim’s family would have

been much different.

Jim attended Roosevelt

Elementary School and St.

Leos High School (Bishop

Ryan.) He was a good stu-

dent and participated in

football, basketball drama,

boys glee club and was an

altar server. He graduated

from high school in 1949.

Despite growing up

poor, Jim lived a rich and

happy childhood. Some of

his fondest memories

were using his family’s

complementary railroad

pass from his deceased

father’s job. He and Paul,

his younger brother, en-

joyed great adventures via

train to Seattle to visit

their older sister, “Patsy”

and Minneapolis and Chi-

cago. With very little mo-

ney, they could only af-

ford to stay at YMCA’s or

at their aunt’s homes. Jim

and Paul shared the love

of music of that era- Big

Band, Jazz, Swing and

Boogie Woogie. They saw

some of the greats includ-ing Louis Armstrong

(from a fire escape in

Minot), Stan Kenton,

Woody Herman, Mary

Ford, and Charlie Parker.

Jim loved music so much

that some friends in high

school nicknamed him,

“Boogie.”

Jim developed an in-

credible work ethic early

on that served him well

until he retired. He

worked many jobs

throughout his childhood

and adolescence includ-

ing cleaning a barbershop,

shining shoes, delivering

and selling newspapers,

mowing lawns, fixing rail

road tracks, cab driver, ce-

ment crew in the con-

struction of Garrison Dam

and construction of the

VA Hospital in Minot.

Following high school,

Jim attended Minot State

University and St. Tho-

mas University in St.

Paul. He was in ROTC

and worked throughout

college. After three years

of college, Jim attended

the University of Montana

Law School. Jim enjoyed

Missoula and the beauti-

ful Rocky Mountains

while working and study-

ing hard. He graduated

from law school in 1955.

He was forever grateful to

his Aunt Ruth LeFleur for

loaning him money to go

to law school.

In 1956 he met his soul-

mate, Marlys Feeney from

Velva, ND. She was a

nursing student at Saint

Joseph’s Hospital in

Minot. Their love for each

other blossomed and after

a short engagement, they

were married on a balmy

and sunny February 16,

1957 at St. Leo’s Catholic

Church in Minot.

Jim and Marlys made

their first home in Great

Falls, MT and said they

were some of the happiest

years together. He worked

as an attorney for the

Swanberg Law Firm while

she worked part time as

an R.N. They had their

first two children, Patrick

and Joseph there. Next,

Jim was recruited by his

friend and law school

classmate to work for the

US Department of

Interior’s legal department

in Minneapolis for a short

stint. They decided big

city life wasn’t for them

and Jim opened his

private law practice in El-

lendale, ND in April 1963.

Despite not being a native

of Ellendale, his general

practice thrived. He

worked hard and put in

60+ hours a week. In

1965 was elected County

Justice, a part-time posi-

tion for two years. Their

two daughters, Jennifer

and Amy were born in El-

lendale. He then was

elected as Dickey County

States Attorney; a part

time position he held con-

currently with his private

law practice. He was

reelected as States Attor-

ney for three more con-

secutive terms; serving a

total of sixteen years. He

served on various boards

including the Ellendale

Hospital Board & Child

Protection Board where

he was active in protect-

ing neglected and abused

children. He was a lector

at St. Helena’s Catholic

Church and was a

member of the Oakes

Knights of Columbus. He

also served as City Attor-

ney of Edgeley. Jim skill-

fully and diligently advo-

cated his client’s cases

while being very congeni-al and dignified. He loved

the law.

After living in Ellendale

for twenty-five years, Jim

was chosen as a judicial

referee of the North Dako-

ta South Central Judicial

District in 1987 and

moved to Bismarck with

Marlys and their last

child, Amy. Jim enjoyed

drives along the beautiful

Missouri River, walks at

Sibley Park, and the rol-

ling hills with his wife,

Marlys. They lived out the

rest of their lives in

Bismarck.

As a judicial referee, he

presided over hearings of

juveniles accused of com-

mitting crimes or that had

suffered abuse or neglect.

He also at times removed

minors from their homes

temporarily or permanent-ly, but always believed

the child belonged in the

home if possible. He also

dealt with custody and

child support hearings.

Jim fully retired in 2002.

Jim was a voracious

reader of newspapers,

news magazines and

biographies. He also was

well-versed in politics at

all levels. He enjoyed

cheering on his beloved

Montana Grizz Football

team and Notre Dame and

drove to many games with

his sons, Marlys and his

brothers over the years.

He enjoyed traveling with

Marlys and his children.

They had many memor-

able family summer vaca-

tions in the station wagon

and later trips with Mar-

lys to NYC, Lake Havasu

and a few unforgettable

ones with his son Joseph

and his wife, Joan through

California to Vancouver

and down through the

Mexican Baja.

Jim’s youngest

daughter, Amy, was the

only child to settle in

Bismarck or ND. Jim and

Marlys were blessed to

share so many precious

memories the past twenty

years with Amy and Sid’s

family and vice versa.

Amy was honored to be

the primary care taker of

Jim (and Marlys) in their

later years when their

health was ailing.

As much as Jim rel-

ished in his chosen pro-

fession, most important to

him was being a loving

and supportive husband,

father and grandfather.

He was “slow to anger and

rich in kindness.” His

sense of humor, outgoing

personality, genuine in-

terest in others and kind-

ness certainly touched all

those that met him. He

truly was one of those

people that everyone just

loved. He will be dearly

missed.

Jim is survived by his

son, Patrick (Becky) Purdy

and granddaughter, Had-

ley, Elk River, MN; son,

Joseph (Joan) Purdy and

granddaughters, Megan

and Jessica and grandson,

Joseph II, Boulder City,

NV; daughter, Jennifer

Purdy-Erdahl and grand-

son, Sean and grand-

daughter, Meghan, Blaine,

MN; daughter, Amy (Dr.

Sidney) and grandsons,

James, Ben & Sam and

granddaughter, Abby,

Mandan; his younger

brother, Dr. Paul Purdy,

Minot and numerous

nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in

death by his wife, Marlys

(Feeney); his parents,

Mark and Edna Purdy; his

older brothers Michael

and Mark Purdy and his

older sister, Patricia Pur-

dy.

Go to www.bismarck

funeralhome.com to sign

the online guestbook.