EULOGY
Anna Purnell
PURNELL, Anna Catherine (nee Yaworenko)
September 6, 1921 - Wayne, Alberta
November 3, 2021 - St. Paul, Alberta
Anne was born in Wayne, AB on September 6, 1921 to Michael and Mary Yaworenko. The second eldest of what would eventually be 11 children. Anne spent her early childhood in Calgary before the family moved to Waseca, SK to homestead in 1932.
Her father and uncle travelled to the homestead two years before the rest of the family to break the land and build the house. The children travelled by train with Anne’s mother from Calgary, to Edmonton where they changed trains, to Waseca. When they arrived in Edmonton, Mary lined the children up on a bench at the station and told them to sit there until she returned. Anne said they all waited and waited until they feared she would not come back. When Mary did return, it was with a welcome surprise. A big paper bag with food from the Salvation Army! While the children waited, she had gone to them for help. For the rest of her life Mary supported the Salvation Army.
Anne started working as a domestic at age 13 for the neighbours in order to go to school. She left home at 16 and began working at the Waseca Hotel. Shortly after, she moved to Saskatoon and began working at the St. Edward Hotel where she eventually met her first husband Thomas (Tommy) Norman McNulty. Tommy was working as a bartender/clerk at the hotel. Anne gave him fifteen dollars she had saved, to buy a suit so he could get a better job as a salesman before he joined the airforce. They married November 22, 1941 in Calgary where he was doing flight training. When his training was completed, the young couple moved back to Saskatoon and stayed with his family. They welcomed a daughter, Charonne, in December 1942. Two years later on October 10, 1944, Tommy was reported Missing in Action.
Now a young widow with a baby, she faced the future with a generous heart and an indomitable spirit that would characterize the rest of her life. She returned to Calgary to live with her uncle Alec in the Belfast area. Tommy's relation, Etty, came from Saskatoon to look after Charonne while Anne went to work. Anne walked every day to catch the bus downtown to the Dutch Mill where she worked as a waitress.
Lloyd John Purnell, her second husband, soon entered the scene. His brother stopped into the Dutch Mill for coffee and told Lloyd he needed to get down there and see the woman working there. Lloyd told her she had the most beautiful eyes and he went there every day asking her to marry him until she accepted.
Anne and Lloyd married August 2, 1946. They welcomed three more children over the years; two daughters Cheryl and Diane, and a son, Kenneth. While Lloyd worked at Esso, Anne ran a boarding house to help make ends meet. Although times were tight, there was always something to share. She started breeding Boston Terriers and the breed stayed close to her heart her whole life.
Anne and Lloyd started their married life with three sets of in-laws; the McNultys, Yaworenkos, and Purnells. There was a constant flow of people through the house. People looking for jobs, spouses, music, etc. In all, there were 30 aunts or uncles with spouses that made for a boisterous and exciting life. Their home became a wayfaring sanctuary for those needing a place to sleep, a good meal, a shoulder to cry on, or a place to laugh. Family came, strangers came, there was always room for one more at the table. Over a period of 30 years, more than 56 people found solace under that roof and at that table.
They enjoyed get togethers with friends and family, dancing, bowling and travelling, often taking long car trips through the States. Anne travelled to Hawaii with Kenneth and often recalled the beautiful beaches and delicious pineapples. It was one of her favourite trips.
Anne loved to drive fast. She always had a car with enough get up and go, so if she wanted to, she might just decide to get up and go, even in the middle of the night. A force of nature, she lived with passion and fire.
An avid reader, she kept up on the news of the world, especially anything to do with the Queen. Anne always drank her tea with sugar and condensed milk instead of milk or cream. Her niece, Morgan, continues this tradition. Anne adored horse races and would take twenty dollars when she went as her entertainment for the day. Incredibly lucky, her tip was to always bet on the greys.
In April 1974, Anne and Lloyd moved to Abilene, AB and returned to farming. Anne loved being back out in the country. She raised cattle, pigs, chickens, goats and kept hundreds of geese. Anne's generous heart was highlighted again through this time, welcoming and caring for various people and animals and rescuing stray puppies from snowbanks. Iconic and stylish, even in the wilds of the Alberta bush, she could often be found barefoot like a wild thing, done hair and lipstick, even in the barnyard.
She was in constant motion, a woman with inexhaustible energy. She looked after the home, meals, garden, and cared for children and adults alike. Grandchildren fled before her, knowing that if she saw you without something useful to do she would quickly assign something. When one would complain, she would remind the less industrious of us “by the time you finished complaining about it, you could have had the job done.”
One day, in her 70s, she came out to the barnyard where her son Kenneth and grandson Michael were humming and hawing over how and who might do the castrating of Michael's project pigs. She briskly walked right up, grabbed the scalpel out of one of their hands, got it done right then and there while the boys looked on in horror and amazement.
When Anne's mother Mary needed care, Anne moved her to Abilene and cared for her at home until she passed. One never had to ask for help, she would just see the need and step in with whatever she had or could offer. When Lloyd grew ill and had to move into the extended care in St. Paul, she drove in to visit faithfully until Lloyd passed away on September 10, 1999. Anne never complained but faced each challenge with grace and steadfast determination.
Her love of travel threaded itself throughout her life. Long road trips through the States and Mexico, travelling to Peru, Costa Rica and a number of times to Europe. In the 1980s, she took a trip with her sister-in-law, whom she loved, Eleanor, to Great Britain and Holland; a grand adventure in many ways. A river cruise trip with her sister Irene, niece Sherry, and her husband Trevor was so special to her and allowed her to reconnect to her family history in Romania. She spent a few months each winter in Phoenix loving the respite from the cold and having a great time with Kenneth. She kept travelling well into her 90s, venturing to England for her grandson's wedding at 95.
An incredible storyteller, with a mind as sharp as a tack, Anne would recount tales of days gone by with names and dates as though it were yesterday. Often the stories were hilarious and listeners would laugh until they cried. She always made sure you had “mad money” in your pocket, “just in case you got mad” and had to get away.
Living every day fiercely independent with a wry sense of humor, her life, a steady and illuminating legacy we can all follow. Anne was and will continue to be an inspiration to those fortunate enough to have known and loved her.
