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2008 SESSION

089312244
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 266
Offered March 3, 2008
Celebrating the life of Harold Hidmore Purcell.
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Patron-- Houck
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WHEREAS, Harold Hidmore Purcell of Louisa County, a former member of the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate and a former circuit court judge, died on July 14, 2007; and

WHEREAS, born in Louisa in 1920 to John Samuel and Mary Elizabeth Walton Purcell, Harold Purcell lived his entire life in his beloved Louisa County; he attended Louisa Elementary School and graduated from Augusta Military Academy before heading to the University of Virginia where he earned a law degree in 1942; and

WHEREAS, Harold Purcell served as a captain in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945 and was honorably discharged; he decided to pursue elected office and served in the General Assembly for 17 years, first in the House of Delegates from 1948 to 1958 and then in the state Senate from 1959 to 1966; and

WHEREAS, one of most the important pieces of legislation Harold Purcell patroned as a state legislator was the Uninsured Motorist Act, which was passed in 1958 and is still on the books today as a critical law to protect the citizens of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, in 1966 Harold Purcell was appointed to the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, where he served until 1979 when he stepped down to join his son in private practice; and

WHEREAS, always very active in his community, Harold Purcell was a member and past master of Masonic Lodge #58 in Louisa, a member of the board of the National Bank & Trust Company, now Wachovia Bank, a member of the Louisa County Historical Society, and a lifelong member of Louisa Christian Church, where he had been a deacon since 1956, trustee since 1961, and elder since 1964; and

WHEREAS, Harold Purcell will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 65 years, Virginia; his two sons, Harold and Charles, and their wives; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and many other family members and dear friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Harold Hidmore Purcell, a devoted public servant and a fine Virginian; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Harold Hidmore Purcell as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.