Richard A. Purkiss ’64

Dick, who died of cancer July 27, 2022, was born in California and grew up in Connecticut, where he attended the Hotchkiss School. A summa cum laude economics major at Princeton, he wrote his thesis on “The Complexity of the Over the Counter Market and its Implications for the Pricing of Corporate Securities.” Though he was a member of Cap and Gown, the Young Republicans, and Whig-Clio, Dick’s undergraduate life was markedly different from that of his classmates in that he married his sophomore year, fathered two sons by his senior year, and worked throughout that time in jobs like driving a school bus to support his family.

In the early 1970s, Dick began a long and distinguished career with the Philadelphia financial firm Janney Montgomery Scott, where he would rise to CEO and would be esteemed as a man of high ethical standards and a mentor to young brokers. He participated in numerous sports, notably golf, skiing, softball, and deep-sea fishing. He ran two marathons and coached high school hockey. Dick also served as a P-rade marshal for 13 years.

The class extends condolences to Dick’s wife, Christine; his three children; his stepdaughter; and his 11 grandchildren.