Obituary of Elaine Purdie

On Saturday, June 5th , Catherine Elaine (Weedmark) Purdie, wife and mother, passed away at the age of 87 in Kingston, Ontario. Elaine was born on November 22nd, 1933 in Seaforth, Ontario to Ira and Muriel (Moo) Weedmark, the youngest of four children. Elaine graduated from high school and after one year of teaching in a one room schoolhouse in the Ottawa Valley, Elaine attended Queen’s University where she earned a BA and met and married her husband of 66 years, Jim. Elaine had a passion for the written word. She was a voracious reader but was also a prolific writer. She faithfully corresponded with family and friends through letters and emails, kept track of her many adventures in the pages of her journals and diaries and wrote a number of short stories. Elaine’s pursuit of lifelong learning, her eternal optimism, her great sense of humour and her peripatetic lifestyle contributed to her skills as a storyteller and were the reasons she was often seen as the life of the party. Elaine enjoyed the arts, politics and women’s issues, becoming involved wherever she went. She will be missed by those who were fortunate enough to have had her in their life. Elaine was preceded in death by her parents, Ira Hamilton and Muriel Helen Weedmark, and her brothers Fred (Carolyn) Weedmark and Jack (Colleen) Weedmark. She is survived by her husband George James (Jim) Purdie, sister Betty (Orville) Graham, her daughters Jennifer Purdie, Jocelyn (Gord McRae) Purdie, Judith (Steve Elliott) Purdie-Elliott, her grandchildren Jason McCready, Matthew (Catriona) McCready, Nicholas (Julia) McCready, Margot (Cal) King, Erik Elliott, and her great grandchildren Caleb and Grace McCready as well as cousins, nieces and nephews. Due to the constraints of Covid, a memorial service will not be held at this time. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Sleeping Children Around The World.