Martha Purdy

Martha Sonntag Purdy, a resident of Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau, died Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, in Chateau Health Center. She was 95.

She was born July 3, 1908, in Independence, Mo., daughter of Carl and Elsa Zistel Sonntag. At the age of two she moved to Cape Girardeau.

Mrs. Purdy attended Cape Girardeau Schools, including a year at Southeast Missouri State University. She transferred to the University of Missouri-Columbia where she received a bachelor of arts degree in art and a bachelor of science degree. She attended a summer session at Ecole De Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France.

She and her family moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where she met and later married Remington James Purdy Nov. 26, 1931. She taught art in the elementary school system there.

In 1931 they moved to Detroit, Mich., and resided in Grosse Pointe Farms. Mich., 45 years. She was a member of Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. She was a devoted housewife and active in the Garden Club of Grosse Pointe, a bird conservation advocate, and substitute teacher in the Gross Pointe School System.

She and her husband spent their retirement years in Cherokee Village, Ark., until they moved to Cape Girardeau in 1983. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau and a member of P.E.O.

She is survived by a son, Remington J. Purdy of Matthews, N.C.; a sister, Alice Zistel Graefe of Chateau Girardeau; two granddaughters, Sheryl Manning Schaefer of New Smyrna, Fla., Stephanie Ann Purdy of Lake Hughes, Calif.; and two great-grandchildren.

A daughter, Elsa Martha Purdy, and her husband, Remington, preceded her in death.

Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements. There will be no local visitation or memorial service.

Martha Purdy's ashes will be interred beside those of her husband, Remington, at the Columbarium at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church.