Purcell Family of America
An association to help those trace the Purcell family line
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Posted: 29 June 2008 at 10:39 p.m.
Looking Back to Move Forward [January 2007]
As I sit down to write my January message to you, I’m reminded of a college journalism course I took at the University of Montana Journalism school in the early 70’s where my professor and Dean Nathan Blumberg asked us to read and review a book for the Senior Class. I elected to read and report on Edward Bellamy’s “Looking Backward”, written in 1897. As I recall, it was a visionary book whereby the author envisioned a world a hundred or so years in the future. The main thrust he felt would be a store and delivery system whereby shoppers would be able to shop at a store, and the goods would be delivered via pneumatic-like tubes to their homes. While that didn’t exactly happen as he envisioned, we just have to look at the newspaper reporting of Amazon.com receiving a record four million orders in one day, and then having them delivered all across our great land in a matter of days via FedEx (which a marketing professor said would never work.)
Correspondingly, when we look at the Purcell Family of America today, we must reflect on the early beginnings of the Association in the early 1970s by Todd & June Purcell of Utah. As husband-and-wife, this team traveled the country calling at random hundreds of unknown Purcell families asking them if they would consider becoming part of a family group. June supposedly typed up approximately 1500 letters in the initial developmental effort. Today we have approximately 200 family members. However, in order to reach the 5000+ Purcell-related families in America and grow our organization so that it is sustainable, and PROFITABLE, we needed to publish a membership-development brochure. The result is in your hands, though it was a long-time coming.
When I first became a member of the Association in the early 90’s, all we had for membership and information was a simple black/white, two-sided and third-folded brochure. (Bob, perhaps you can run a reduced copy front/back for readers to see?)
Clearly, a new brochure was needed. So, at the PFofA Board meeting in Glacier Park in June 2003, it was decided a new brochure should be created, and I volunteered to spearhead the project. While I conceptualized and drafted copy in late 2003, it was not ready to finalize until 2005 because we didn’t have funds to print it, the money to mail it, nor an appropriate mailing list to send it to. With the physical layout done, it was now time to ask for donations, which have flowed in over the last year or so. Contributions of $5 to $565 have come in, for which we are most grateful. This is good news, however a shortfall from the Reunion again set us back financially, so production was delayed six months until now.
As you can see, I’m pleased
to present to you this wonderful 8-page, four-color brochure!
We printed up 3000 copies, which have allowed us to include several
copies for you and your immediate family. About 1500 will be used
to mail to key state and local libraries plus historical organizations
across the country. A balance of about 500-600 will be used over
the next three years until our 2009 reunion.
Our new brochure was not done in a vacuum, but required input and assistance from various individuals and PFofA Board Members, whom I would like to acknowledge below:
Robert Purcell, editor of the PFofA Journal -- I’d like to thank Robert for his professionalism in publishing the Journal over the last six years, taking over from Alice Purcell. His attention to detail, and in taking the lead for list formatting and development were essential. Too, the financial support of Bob and his wife Rory have helped bridge the PFofA funding gaps over the last six years.
Tony Augugliaro, art director – Tony is one of the most talented, prolific and award-winning art directors I’ve worked with in my three decades of publishing. As a co-worker, Tony has patiently accepted a non-compensated project that has stretched over three years. The wonderfully designed results are in your hands and I hope you will reflect that in your comments back to me. Thanks Tony!
Tony Marostica, past president of the PFofA – Thanks for your advice and support in the transition of the officers slate, plus your candid editing comments on the brochure.
Todd & June Purcell, founders of the Purcell Family of America -- Without their visionary hard work, we would not have had an organization to build upon.
Blair & Margot Purcell, webmasters for our website – Despite a move from Maryland to Indiana, Blair and Margot have kept the website up and running, with lots of good information, and soon will hopefully include our PFofA Brochure.
Contributing Members of the Association – Without your past, current and future voluntary donations, we would not have been able to print our new brochure, nor move ahead with its distribution in order to solicit new members.
New Talents Needed…
In the early 80’s, Forrest
and Alice Purcell were contacted and agreed to lead the Association,
and most especially as Editors of the PFofA Journal. Alice Purcell
was our longest editor from the early ‘80s to 2000, when her health
no longer allowed her to fulfill a role she truly enjoyed. That’s
when Robert Purcell stepped in to be our current editor. However, now
that Bob is in his early 80s, it is time to find a new Editor.
We hope that one of you reading this message will be able to step up
to the task of replacing Bob before our 2009 Reunion, or in some other
capacity that will be helpful to the Association.
And speaking of tasks, did you fill in the Skill Assessments Survey created by our Vice President Doug Purcell, which was included with your October Journal? If not, please take a moment and do so now, perhaps with a donation as well. Thanks.
The future of the Purcell Family of America rests in your hands…literally with the PFofA Journal, and the new membership brochure. We need members to grow, so please distribute them to family members and perhaps your local library or genealogical associations.
In closing, three last thoughts. Firstly, I think Edward Bellamy, the 19th-century author, would have been thrilled and amazed to see what he envisioned come true in the 21st century via Amazon.com, the internet and FedEx. Secondly, we have the opportunity to pass along to future generations of Purcells, Pearsalls, etc. a legacy of the Purcell Family of America. Please do your part.
Finally, I would encourage
you to re-read my column from October acknowledging the efforts of Helen
Habermann, some of her work appears in this Journal.
Don’t be silent, let us hear from you!
Cheers for the new year!
Joe Frank ‘J.F.’ Purcell
President, PFofA
Comments
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Comment from Ronnie Pursell (21 July 2008 at 10:56 a.m.)