John Paul Purcell

John P. Purcell passed away peacefully while on hospice in his assisted living home at the age of 91 years old.  He was born on September 20, 1934, in Lilian, VA and spent most of his adult life in Linthicum, MD.

He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 59 years, Connie; parents, Grover and Bessie Purcell; sisters, Elizabeth Keyser, Idell Purcell, Elaine Eichler; brother, William Purcell; and granddaughter, Amy Barker.

He is survived by his daughters, Paige Claxton (Don) of Bel Air, MD and Kellie Barker of Worton, MD; granddaughter, Breanne Waters (Al); great-granddaughter, Ally, and many nieces and nephews.

After graduating from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1953, he worked as a draftsman at Glenn L Martin Company for 10 years. He was proud of his military service from 1960-1962 in the US Army as a Morse Code Radio Operator and was his commanding officer’s driver in Boeblingen, Germany during the Berlin Crisis. He was assigned to an Army Reserve Intelligence Unit for 1 year in 1964 at Ft. Holabird, MD. He was employed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD in the Engineering Division and retired in 1991 after 28 years of Federal Service. He also owned and operated Purcell’s Refrigeration Service in Linthicum, MD from 1973 until 1995.

John volunteered at the Anne Arundel County Police Department Headquarters Traffic Safety Section, Special Operations Division from 1999 until 2004.  He was a member of Halethorpe Community Church, American Legion Post #40, Anne Arundel County FOP Lodge #70 (Associate Member), Maryland Mobileers Amateur Radio Club and several other organizations.

His hobbies included Ham Radio, bullseye pistol target shooting, bird watching, computing, riding steam engine trains and he enjoyed spending time with friends/family.

The family will receive visitors at Singleton Funeral & Cremation Services, 1 2nd Avenue, S.W. Glen Burnie MD 21061 on Tuesday, July 7th, 2026, from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. A funeral service will be held in Singleton’s Chapel at 12:30 pm, immediately followed by interment at Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville, MD.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Chesapeake, John & Cathy Belcher Campus 90 Ritchie Hwy, Pasadena MD 21122 or St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

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