Richard Purdy

Richard “Dick” Purdy was born 86 years ago in Lincoln, Nebraska to Belvah and Archie Purdy. The family moved west to Long Beach, California before settling in Central Point, Oregon.

Dick reached his 86th birthday on Saturday, April 2nd and passed away on Tuesday April 5, 2022. Dick met the love of his life, Ginger, while dragging Main Street in Medford with his friend Jean. Dick and Ginger married 3/15/57 and then moved up to Corvallis so Dick could continue his engineering education at OSU.

Daughter Leslee was born in April 1959. Dick graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1960 and the family moved to the Bay Area, CA for a job with Bechtel. Cindy was born there in 1960. A couple years later they returned to Oregon for a job with CH2M/Hill which led to bridge design for the new interstate freeway in Southern Idaho. They did not expect that Boise was going to be their new home for years to come, but it was. The birth of Christy in 1965 completed the family. Dick was with CH2M/Hill for 15 years before striking out on his own. He was a structural engineer and provided his expertise to many local buildings.

Ultimately in 1987 Dick and Ginger relocated to Hailey Idaho to be closer to the majority of his projects. They lived there until retirement in 2003. Dick was involved in several organizations through the years, helping to establish the Capitol Jaycees, Idaho Society of Professional Engineers where he served both organizations as President, Idaho Society of Structural Engineers and Ketchum Rotary.

Dick liked to make things, He could rebuild car motors and entertained his daughters when he built an aluminum can smasher that was way more work than simply stomping the can with your foot. He was definitely an engineer when it came to installing an in-ground aboveground swimming pool, perfection was the goal of the sand bed that was underneath the pool liner. The kids just wanted it filled with water so they could jump in. While in his 20’s he and his buddies started building an inboard boat. Interest in the project stayed with Dick and he finished the boat which they named “The Chris-CindaLee” It provided summers of family fun at Lucky Peak and always gave Dick something to tinker with.

After retirement Dick and Ginger became Snowbirds and traveled all over the US. They spent most of their winters in Yuma, AZ. They took a couple cruises, enjoyed Mexico to the tip of the Baja in their RV. Made many friends from all over especially Canada. He maintained contact with friends from CH2M/ Hill over the many years and until recently met the guys for breakfast or lunch on occasion. The onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms began to slow Dick down several years ago. He participated in a drug trial to try to help find better treatments for the devastating disease. It wasn’t until November 2021 that admission to a memory care facility became necessary.

The family would like to thank Keystone Hospice, the staff at Edgewood Springcreek Memory Care, especially Amanda, Bailey and Candy for treating Dick like they would their own Father. Dick is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ginger; daughters Leslee & Dale Haylett, Cindy & Jim Tuscany and Christy & Grady Smith; 9 beloved grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

No services are planned at this time.