Larry Wayne Purifoy

Larry Wayne Purifoy passed away April 11, 2018 at the age of 71.

Larry was born on October 29, 1946, in Little Rock, Arkansas, but wasn’t there long as his parents Marshall Elisha and Dorothy Lee (Covington) Purifoy worked in road construction after serving in the military in World War II. As he was growing up with his sister Wanda and brother Ray, he went to 33 different schools. Road construction kept them on the move. Luckily, Larry made friends easily. He was a bit of a daredevil as a child. Once when living in West Texas, school was cancelled because they were expecting a big storm. Larry waited it out and raced home as it arrived with icicles hanging from his ears. This attitude worked well for him on the football field as an offensive lineman, as well as when he was racing cars as a teenager. He had a 1960 red Chevy, that he replaced the engine with a SS 396 instead. His best friend was David Cheek. After Larry graduated from Poly Technic High School in Fort Worth in 1965, he went on to Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State) and graduated in 1970 with a Bachelors of Business (BBA). He later achieved Advanced Studies in Petroleum Engineering.

It was through his best friend David (Kay’s cousin) that Larry met the love of his life, Kay Bradley. Larry was under a car at David’s house when Kay drove up and he saw a blond with legs. From that moment on, the two could not be separated. They were married in Everman, Texas on June 15, 1968. She had total trust in Larry. Even though she was not able to swim, he taught her how to water-ski. In their almost 50 year marriage, they were blessed with two children: Robert and Robin. He was a very active father, coaching soccer and teaching the kids to fish. He was an amazing parent and grandparent (“Umpy”) who was always there for his children and grandchildren. He enjoyed taking the family out to dinner for special occasions.

Larry was raised Church of Christ, but later became a Baptist. He had a private faith that was very solid and strong. Being such an avid lover of fishing, Larry felt closest with God on the water. The outdoors was his church. As he often said, “Just look out your window. How can you have any doubt that there is a God?” He was very involved CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) as past president as well as other board positions.

Right out of college, Larry went to work to support his new family working with Dahlstrom Construction. He helped build DFW airport. He then went to work for The Western Company of North America, where he worked with oil drilling/fracking. They sent him for advanced education. He moved on to Aramco International Petroleum, which was based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He also worked with BJ Hughes and Dresser Titan. In 2002 he began working for the Brazos Transit District as Operations Director. He later became Director of Operations. He never retired. In his free time, he enjoyed coastal and lake fishing, working on cars, and going to the shooting range. He was very interested in gun collecting and trading, and was a member of the NRA. He enjoyed hunting both dove and deer. Larry loved to travel, but seemed to barely survive disasters. When he and Kay were just married, they traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica, and an earthquake hit. Later they traveled to Las Vegas. Right after they left, the hotel burned down. After disembarking from a cruise, the ship broke down and was stranded at sea.

Larry will be dearly missed by his wife Kay, his son Robert Wayne Purifoy, his daughter and son-in-law Robin Michelle Purifoy and Paul Torrez, his granddaughters Brittany Michelle Torrez and Holly Nicole Torrez (with Holly’s boyfriend and “adopted” grandson Andrew Ling), his brother Ray, sister Wanda, his German Shepherd grand-dogs Wyatt and Dax, and his grand-cat Merlin.

To honor Larry’s life, the family has planned a visitation for Monday, April 16 from 6-8 at Hillier Funeral Home of College Station, Texas. His Celebration of Life will be Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 10 AM at Hillier Funeral Home of College Station, with interment to be at Pleasant Point Cemetery in Lillian, Texas at 3:30 PM that afternoon.

Memorial contributions may be made to honor Larry’s life to Hospice Brazos Valley or CCA.