Charles H. Purdum Jr.
Charles H. Purdum, Jr, 94, of Syracuse, IN died December 7, 2014, at Miller’s Merry Manor in Syracuse. He was born March 16, 1920, in Richmond, Virginia, to Charles Henry and Virginia Martin Purdum. On October 3, 1942, he married Margaret Vanderveer, who died in 2000. He was a graduate of Milford High School and graduated with an electrical engineering degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1942. Upon graduation he entered the U.S Army and trained with the original 10th Mountain Division ski troops at Camp Hale, Colorado. During WWII, he rode with General Patton’s Third Army in Europe and also served in the Philippines and in Japan. He remained in the Army reserves for 28 years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. After the war he was President of Sturm and Dillard Gravel Company in Syracuse from 1946 to 1972. He served the community as a member of the Wawasee Community School Board during the construction of Wawasee High School in 1968. He was also a member of the Milford United Methodist Church, an active participant in the Kosciusko County Republican Party for many years, and a member of the Quiet Birdmen. He is survived by daughters Ann (Carlos) Bennett of Dayton, Ohio; Janet (Larry) Lant of Syracuse; and Amy (Scott) Williams of Jackson, Wyoming. Also surviving are four grandchildren, Christina (Tony) Handorf and Jeremy (Charity) Jackson, both of Ohio, Joanna (Michael) Prescott of Syracuse, and Margaret Williams of Wyoming, four great-grandchildren, and a dear friend Audra Shenk of Louisville, Kentucky. Services will be held at 2pm on Wednesday, December 10 at the Eastlund Funeral Home with calling one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at the Milford cemetery with military honors.