Benefactor to Mount Carmel H.S.

Husband founded scrap metal firm

Lorraine Purdy's grandson remembers her Beverly home as a warm and comfortable place filled with the sounds and smells of her cooking in the kitchen in the morning.

"When you stayed over at her house, you would wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs and fried potatoes," said Michael Boyle, her grandson. "She made great breakfasts. Food was big in her world. She equated food with comfort."

Mrs. Lorraine "Tiny" Purdy, 90, died April 21 in her vacation home in Palm Desert, Calif.

She was the widow of John "Jack" Purdy, founder of The Purdy Company, a scrap metal processing and brokerage firm in Chicago. She was also a benefactor to Mount Carmel High School, Christ the King School Foundation and the Little Company of Mary Hospital sisters' retirement fund.

Mr. and Mrs. Purdy had vacationed in Palm Desert since the 1950s and owned a home there since 1972. She suffered a stroke recently while gardening there. Mr. Purdy died in 2002.

"She loved the sun," Boyle said. "She was in her back yard in North Beverly a lot. She loved the squirrels. She had a lot of bird feeders. She was champion of bird feeders."

Mrs. Purdy was born Lorraine O'Hara Dec. 3, 1917, in Chicago.

"She was raised in St. Leo Parish," said her daughter Anne Boyle. "She went to St. Mary's College and [Jack Purdy] went to Notre Dame in Indiana. Then she got married at Christ The King Church and was one of the first parishioners in 1938."

Other survivors include a daughter, Joy Sullivan; a son, Robin; 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday at Christ the King Church, 9235 S. Hamilton Ave., followed by mass at 6 p.m. at the church. Entombment will be private at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Worth.