Lasting Memories

Charles Rea Purnell
July 31, 1922-Jan. 18, 2007
Palo Alto, California

Charles Rea Purnell, a retired attorney from the firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Putnam LLP, died Jan. 18, 2007. He lived in Woodside for 42 years before moving to Palo Alto in 2005.

Mr. Purnell was born in Wellington, Kansas, and grew up in Wichita. He attended Wichita State University for three years. In 1943, he entered the U.S. Army through the ROTC program. After completing officers' school, he was assigned to the 86th Infantry Division and served with it until the end of World War II, ending with the rank of captain. He served in Europe as a rifle company platoon leader and in the Philippines as a company commander. He was married to his wife, Jane, in 1945.

After the war he graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School, where he was editor of the Stanford Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. Upon graduation, he joined the San Francisco law firm of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Putnam LLP), where he worked until his retirement. During his first 20 years at Pillsbury, he practiced business and real estate law. In the early 1970s, he founded Pillsbury Environmental Law Group. Under his leadership, the group represented a number of the nation's largest companies, many in the petroleum industry. Today the group consists of 50 attorneys and practices throughout the United States.

The Purnells traveled extensively and lived in Japan during the 1950s when Mr. Purnell was recalled during the Korean War. He was an accomplished bridge player and student of genealogy, tracing his ancestors back to Maryland in the early 1600s, say family members.

Mr. Purnell is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jane; sons Charles Christy Purnell of Lakeland, Florida, Bradley Mills Purnell of Acampo, California, and Whitney George Purnell of Redwood City; a brother, George Purnell of Garden City, Kansas; a sister, Jacqueline Burks of Greenwood Village, Colorado; and two grandchildren.