Blaine Sexton Purnell, 93

August 02, 2023

We are sad to announce the passing of Blaine Sexton Purnell of Lancaster, PA. He went to live an eternal life with his Heavenly Father at age 93 on Wednesday August 2, 2023. Blaine passed peacefully at the Glen in the Willow Valley Communities. He was attended by his loving children Jennifer, Jeff, and Elizabeth, and the love of his life, Ellen. Blaine was born on April 11, 1930 in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania to Marie Johanna Montcalm Sexton Purnell and Dr. John S. (Gugs) Purnell, Sr. He is survived by his wife Ellen Reece Purnell, his children, Jennifer Purnell Strode (Rob) of Silverthorne, CO, Jeff Purnell of Haddonfield, NJ, Elizabeth Purnell Ward (Adam) of Manchester, MO, his 9 grandchildren (Cassidy Strode, Brittany Strode Ashida, and Michelle Strode; Blaine, Zach, Ryder, and Sydney Ward; and Kailey and Reese Purnell) 4.5 great-grandchildren (Ben, Jonah, and Jude Ashida, and Luke and TBD Strode), his brother John S. (Jack) Purnell Jr. of State College, PA and sister Joannah P. McGregor of Mifflinburg, PA. He was preceded in death by his brother Karl H. Purnell.

A Celebration of Life time and date will be announced in the future. For more information, please contact Jennifer. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Blaine’s name to the Young Life Campership Legacy Fund at https://giving.younglife.org/CampershipLegacyFund.

After graduating from high school, Blaine served as a medical technician in the U.S. Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi for one year. He used this opportunity to hitch rides with air force pilots for the fair price of purchasing his own parachute. This apparently inspired Blaine to get his own pilot’s license, which led to many exciting flying adventures, the last of which was crashing into a tree.

Blaine received his Bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University) and his Masters Degree in Hospital Administration from Northwestern University. Blaine also considered pursuing a medical degree to follow in his father’s footsteps attending school in Philadelphia for one year. While in college, Blaine was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, was active in sports including boxing and soccer, and was selected to try out for the U.S. Olympic soccer team.

Blaine and Ellen were married June 16,, 1956 in the Poconos, and were happily married for 67 years! Prior to moving to Lancaster, Blaine and Ellen were longtime residents of Haddonfield, NJ where they attended and served in various capacities at the Haddonfield United Methodist Church. Blaine was a Sunday School teacher for many years as well as assisting in various capacities in church administration. Blaine and Ellen also owned a home in Lake Naomi, PA for over 50 years, where they vacationed year-round, and frequently attended and supported Pocono Lake United Methodist Church.

Blaine loved to travel and enjoyed telling stories of his travel adventures, many of which fit into the “you can’t make this stuff up” category. One of dozens of examples is when he was visiting his Uncle Blaine in the UK in the early 1950s. As the story goes, Blaine located the prime minister’s residence with the intent to see Winston Churchill. He climbed up on the garden wall waiting for Churchill to come outside to see his favorite fish in the garden pond, and when “Winny” strolled by, Blaine called out and engaged him in conversation which was quickly ended by Churchill’s security.

Blaine was an avid sportsman and athlete. He enjoyed playing sports and watching and attending sports events, especially Penn State football games with his brother Jack. Blaine played and participated in many sports including tennis, swimming, golf, scuba diving, skiing, sailing, soccer, fishing, hunting, boxing and other sports. He would have been a natural at pickleball if only it was invented in his time! Blaine used his love for sports to connect with his children and extended family whether it be pigtail softball with the girls, sailing with Jenny, tennis and scuba diving with Jeff and Elizabeth, golfing with his sons-in-law Adam and Rob, or teaching his grandkids how to fish and shoot BB guns. Blaine was known in the Poconos as the guy who “swam the lake” almost every day he was at Lake Naomi, frequently accompanied by his faithful golden retriever, Reggie (swimming) and Ellen (kayaking or canoeing). Bailey, another of Blaine’s goldens, was content to “fish” along the shore while Blaine swam.

Blaine loved music, especially the classics and show tunes, and was a frequent attendee at concerts, Broadway shows, and the occasional opera. Blaine played trombone in high school, dabbled with harmonica, and in his later years took up the recorder (a reeded, flute-like instrument). Whether in the car or at home, Blaine was frequently listening to his music collection and “sharing” it with others.

Blaine was always involved as a community volunteer work including Young Life, pigtail softball, Boy Scouts, teaching Sunday school, etc. He was a major influence on the youth with which he interacted. While in the UK, Blaine (an Eagle Scout himself) volunteered as a troop leader for one of Robert Baden-Powell’s scout troops, which apparently claimed the title of Boy Scout Troop No. 1. Blaine volunteered because he saw a need and in many cases to further bond with his children and their friends.

Prior to his marriage, Blaine worked various jobs until he became a teacher at the Taft School, a private boarding school in Connecticut. After marrying Ellen, he worked sales jobs where his Carnegie training as a speaker and salesman would benefit him for a lifetime. Soon after they were married, Blaine and Ellen worked for one summer at Camp Pocono on Lake Wallenpaupack, where Blaine served as Head Counselor and Ellen as the dietitian. Blaine then joined Johnson & Johnson, where he worked selling baby products in northern PA. J&J transferred Blaine to South Jersey and that’s how Blaine and Ellen ended up in Haddonfield.

Blaine started his business, Cracker Barrel (not the Cracker Barrel restaurant), with Ellen in the early 1960s. Initially, Cracker Barrel was more of a cottage industry making milk can lamps and other rustic novelties, but later blossomed into a much larger business selling display items for retail stores. All of this change was due to a mistake at an auction. Apparently, Blaine intended to bid on and purchase a few old one-piece school desks (the ones with the seat attached to the desk). However, instead of a few desks, Blaine ended up accidentally bidding on an entire lot of desks, the selling of which then became the beginning of the family business selling display items. From a small business involving Blaine and Ellen, Cracker Barrel expanded from a garage in Haddonfield to a warehouse in Belmar, with Jeff joining the business after college. The only other “employees,” besides a part-time helper, were Blaine’s dogs who would often accompany him to work.

Blaine proposed to Ellen on their third date in 1954 and they were married approximately one and one-half years later in 1956. “Jenny” came along in 1958 with Jeff to follow in 1962. Elizabeth was a delightful surprise 10 years later in 1972. During the early years of their marriage, Ellen was crowned “Mrs. Pennsylvania,” one of Blaine’s proudest moments and a source for many future stories and introductions. While attending the Mrs. America pageant the pageant organizers wanted to get footage of the pageant husbands participating in activities. The organizer asked the men if any water skied? Many hands went up. Then the organizer followed that question up and asked if any of the husbands jumped on water skis. Blaine’s hand was the only one raised. Needless to say he had no prior experience jumping on waterskis. Apparently there is now footage somewhere of Blaine splashing spectacularly after attempting his jump! He was always up for a challenge!

Blaine was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather who enjoyed getting the family together for holidays and vacations. Hilton Head was a frequent and cherished vacation spot for the whole family, in addition to the many holiday and summer get-togethers in Haddonfield and the Poconos. One of the fun annual events for the grandkids was Blaine dressing up as Santa, and then on Christmas morning opening presents in Gram’s and Oma’s Haddonfield bedroom. He also organized the Lake Naomi Purnell Family Olympics where the grandchildren participated in events such as the swim across the lake, hitting bottle caps with BB guns, memorizing Bible verses, chipping golf balls, lengthy tennis rallies, etc. The prize was a much coveted $20 bill. The kids acted like it was $20,000.

Blaine’s joy and positive attitude were infectious: he knew how to charm and make life fun for everyone! Blaine could be serious when it was required, and he held his family to high standards. However, he was unique in his quiet way of maintaining discipline and respect. If you ever heard Blaine raise his voice, it was probably encouraging his children at a sporting event or trying to get his Irish setters to come back from their latest adventures.