Obituary for Dwight Ervin Purdy
Dwight Ervin Purdy was born November 6, 1950 at the old hospital in Dallas, Oregon, to Keith and Mavis (Zuver) Purdy. He joined his sister Leslee Ellen, who arrived a year earlier on November 8, 1949. The other siblings wouldn’t come along for a little while: Laurel Lynn February 1952; Rebecca Gail September 1955, and Kenneth Lyle August 1959.
He came home to a little house in Falls City, where his mother was a homemaker, and his father left every day to work various lumber mill type jobs.
As he grew, things became apparent about young Dwight. He was accident prone; he did not like to clean; he did not like to follow rules; he did not like to do what was expected of him, and he marched to a different drummer. Not much of this would change over the next seven decades.
In winters, there were chores, and school (just down the road at the Falls City Seventh-Day Adventist Elementary School), but in summers there were crops to be picked to earn money for school clothes, as well as woods and hills to roam and explore. He roamed freely, often in trouble for disregarding the rule about staying within the sound of Mom’s car horn.
Dwight resisted learning to read – thus having to repeat second grade, where Laurel caught up with him – but once he got the hang of it, he became an avid reader: of encyclopedias! There were several sets, old sets, and partial sets in the Purdy household, and he enjoyed them all. He also liked the science, mechanic magazines, and westerns.
One day when he was 12, he decided to help the older boys cut grass at the school; got his dad’s lawnmower without permission and ended up cutting three toes off his foot instead. But despite the many distractions at that grade school (like the sawmill activities right below out the North windows – and the train that even came closer – (Yes it did still in Falls City in the 1960’s!) He managed to graduate from there in 1966, and head to Falls City High School the following year.
His education ended after he wrecked his motorcycle and broke his leg in multiple places in his Junior year. After the leg healed, and he’d worked for a farmer for a while, he decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He was released honorably due to medical issues resulting from that foot that had the run-in with the lawn mower.
He always regretted that early release. His family did not. They remembered his other issues. But then Dwight re-discovered Valsetz. He’d known it all his life, of course. Had Aunts, Uncles and cousins living up there.
Grandpa Purdy once ran a little radio station out of his home there. His dad was running the tug boat on the pond. Dwight went to work for Boise Cascade…and found his calling. He might not always be exactly sober, but he was always available, and a hard worker. Living in camp, and willing to work double shifts at short or no notice, helped make up for the stupid things like driving his little Fiat out across the frozen pond.
He loved radio: CB, Ham, and shortwave, and used to keep journals of where the various ones were coming from when “the skip was in”. Then he got even more obsessed with TV and movies, often having several VCR’s programmed and recording at once. He kept meticulous records and catalogued everything; hording old TV Guides, but knew right where it all was.
Boise Cascade closed the mill town in 1984 and razed the townsite. Dwight moved “over the hill” to Dallas for a while, but never worked at a regular job again. Later, he moved into woods, and then into a camper on his parent’s property where he would remain until his mothers death in 2020. During these years, he worked for his Uncles on their construction projects; worked odd jobs or sometimes for farmers, and picked mushrooms in the fall.
His dad died in 1992, so he was there to help his mother with the wood for her stove and other man stuff. He would often be seen walking along the road halfway to Fern’s Corner, puffing on his pipe as he searched for returnable cans.
Dwight broke his other leg in a logging accident, and in other incidents, both arms, one elbow, both wrists, his pelvis, some ribs, and most of his fingers.
There were numerous car wrecks. Much of this was due to his ongoing relationship with beer. “Pig-headed” is probably in some dictionary definition somewhere under Dwight, or maybe it’s just his DNA. That German-Irish-Scot mix includes three of the stubbornest races on Earth after all.
Once he got an idea in his head, you couldn’t budge it with a crowbar. But he was also extremely generous, and would help out anybody with his last dollar. He was cautiously affectionate where humans went, but loved his assorted crew of scroungy mutts. He showed great loyalty to those he cared about.
It became evident that Dwight’s health was not such that he would do well alone. When his mother’s property was sold in 2021 and Laurel planned for the new place, they were making a place for Dwight too. But his health deteriorated rapidly and he died April 11, 2023 after a brief stay in Salem Hospital.
He was preceded in death by his Sister Rebecca Purdy in 1975, father Keith Purdy in 1992, Sister Leslee Davis in 2009, niece Tracie Davis in 2015, Mother Mavis Purdy in 2020, Brother Kenneth Purdy in 2020.
He is survived by his Sister Laurel Purdy of Falls City, OR, Nephews Mark (Traci) Davis of Albany, OR, Ben Purdy of Salem, OR. Nieces Danielle Purdy of Brooklyn NY, Caitlin Purdy of Mill City, OR.; Sydney Purdy of Salem, OR, cousins, one great nephew and one great-great niece. It suited him to have no services. Assisting the family is Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center.
He came home to a little house in Falls City, where his mother was a homemaker, and his father left every day to work various lumber mill type jobs.
As he grew, things became apparent about young Dwight. He was accident prone; he did not like to clean; he did not like to follow rules; he did not like to do what was expected of him, and he marched to a different drummer. Not much of this would change over the next seven decades.
In winters, there were chores, and school (just down the road at the Falls City Seventh-Day Adventist Elementary School), but in summers there were crops to be picked to earn money for school clothes, as well as woods and hills to roam and explore. He roamed freely, often in trouble for disregarding the rule about staying within the sound of Mom’s car horn.
Dwight resisted learning to read – thus having to repeat second grade, where Laurel caught up with him – but once he got the hang of it, he became an avid reader: of encyclopedias! There were several sets, old sets, and partial sets in the Purdy household, and he enjoyed them all. He also liked the science, mechanic magazines, and westerns.
One day when he was 12, he decided to help the older boys cut grass at the school; got his dad’s lawnmower without permission and ended up cutting three toes off his foot instead. But despite the many distractions at that grade school (like the sawmill activities right below out the North windows – and the train that even came closer – (Yes it did still in Falls City in the 1960’s!) He managed to graduate from there in 1966, and head to Falls City High School the following year.
His education ended after he wrecked his motorcycle and broke his leg in multiple places in his Junior year. After the leg healed, and he’d worked for a farmer for a while, he decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He was released honorably due to medical issues resulting from that foot that had the run-in with the lawn mower.
He always regretted that early release. His family did not. They remembered his other issues. But then Dwight re-discovered Valsetz. He’d known it all his life, of course. Had Aunts, Uncles and cousins living up there.
Grandpa Purdy once ran a little radio station out of his home there. His dad was running the tug boat on the pond. Dwight went to work for Boise Cascade…and found his calling. He might not always be exactly sober, but he was always available, and a hard worker. Living in camp, and willing to work double shifts at short or no notice, helped make up for the stupid things like driving his little Fiat out across the frozen pond.
He loved radio: CB, Ham, and shortwave, and used to keep journals of where the various ones were coming from when “the skip was in”. Then he got even more obsessed with TV and movies, often having several VCR’s programmed and recording at once. He kept meticulous records and catalogued everything; hording old TV Guides, but knew right where it all was.
Boise Cascade closed the mill town in 1984 and razed the townsite. Dwight moved “over the hill” to Dallas for a while, but never worked at a regular job again. Later, he moved into woods, and then into a camper on his parent’s property where he would remain until his mothers death in 2020. During these years, he worked for his Uncles on their construction projects; worked odd jobs or sometimes for farmers, and picked mushrooms in the fall.
His dad died in 1992, so he was there to help his mother with the wood for her stove and other man stuff. He would often be seen walking along the road halfway to Fern’s Corner, puffing on his pipe as he searched for returnable cans.
Dwight broke his other leg in a logging accident, and in other incidents, both arms, one elbow, both wrists, his pelvis, some ribs, and most of his fingers.
There were numerous car wrecks. Much of this was due to his ongoing relationship with beer. “Pig-headed” is probably in some dictionary definition somewhere under Dwight, or maybe it’s just his DNA. That German-Irish-Scot mix includes three of the stubbornest races on Earth after all.
Once he got an idea in his head, you couldn’t budge it with a crowbar. But he was also extremely generous, and would help out anybody with his last dollar. He was cautiously affectionate where humans went, but loved his assorted crew of scroungy mutts. He showed great loyalty to those he cared about.
It became evident that Dwight’s health was not such that he would do well alone. When his mother’s property was sold in 2021 and Laurel planned for the new place, they were making a place for Dwight too. But his health deteriorated rapidly and he died April 11, 2023 after a brief stay in Salem Hospital.
He was preceded in death by his Sister Rebecca Purdy in 1975, father Keith Purdy in 1992, Sister Leslee Davis in 2009, niece Tracie Davis in 2015, Mother Mavis Purdy in 2020, Brother Kenneth Purdy in 2020.
He is survived by his Sister Laurel Purdy of Falls City, OR, Nephews Mark (Traci) Davis of Albany, OR, Ben Purdy of Salem, OR. Nieces Danielle Purdy of Brooklyn NY, Caitlin Purdy of Mill City, OR.; Sydney Purdy of Salem, OR, cousins, one great nephew and one great-great niece. It suited him to have no services. Assisting the family is Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center.