Sylvia Turner Purcell

Sylvia Turner Purcell

Sylvia Turner Purcell was born at home on March 28, 1933 in Gillsville, Ga. She died on November 1, 2026 at Kings Bridge Retirement Community in Atlanta. She is predeceased by her parents; Pope & Florence Turner and her husband of 49 years, Hoyt D. Purcell. She is also predeceased by her siblings; James H. Turner, Julia Wilson, Betty Alexander and Hilda Hill. She has one surviving sister-in-law, Gloria Turner and three children; Cynthia Naglee (David), Joe Smith-Purcell (Libby), and Laurie Purcell. She also has 5 grandchildren: Phillip Naglee (Ali), Kara Johnson, Trey Purcell (Emily), Will Smith-Purcell, and Elisabeth Smith-Purcell, and 4 great grandchildren; DJ Naglee, Dylan Naglee, Malcolm Johnson, and Francesca Purcell.

Sylvia and Hoyt were married on June 20, 1953. Hoyt was an educator/school principal. Soon their children were born and Hoyt received a call to ministry that would change their lives. He went to Candler School of theology at Emory University while Sylvia stayed at home with 3 young children. Upon completion of seminary, they had appointments to several United Methodist churches in the North Georgia Annual Conference. Sylvia always worked to make the church parsonage "their home" while living in that community even though the house didn't belong to them.

Sylvia worked as church secretary at Glenn Memorial UMC and Tucker UMC. After their retirement, they were very active at Mountain Park UMC in Lilburn. At one point, Sylvia made many of the beautiful Chrismons for the Church's Chrismon tree. She was active in the United Methodist Women, her Sunday School class and many of the church's activities.

She was an excellent seamstress and sewed much of the clothing for her daughters and herself. She also cooked many delicious meals for her family day in and day out.

She loved working in her yard and digging in the dirt. She had lots of houseplants and a "green thumb."

She had a quick wit and loved to laugh. She was fun-loving. She enjoyed traveling with various groups of senior adults from time to time.

Even after retirement she kept up with Conference-wide church events and news. She loved the church and was proud to be a United Methodist.

In lieu of flowers please make a contribution to The Good Samaritan Fund at Oak Grove UMC, The Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org), or the Operating Fund at Mountain Park UMC.