Purley, Catherine Ann

Catherine Ann Purley, 72, died Sunday, September 25, 2016 at Gentiva Hospice Facility in Albuquerque, NM less than a month after she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer.

She leaves behind cousins, Pamela Watson-Jones of Wales and Donna Ross of Huntington Beach, CA, as well as the Purley family of Laguna Pueblo. She will also be missed by many loving friends and her cat Griffith.

Catherine was born in Portsmouth, VA on July 16, 1944 to Gibson Griffith, a naval officer and Mary Catherine Havtur.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Anthony Purley of Laguna Pueblo.

Catherine received her BA in Anthropology in 1966, an MA in Anthropology in 1970 and a Master of Library and Information Science in 1999. She earned a graduate certificate in Historic Preservation months before her death. She dedicated much of her life to furthering education for Native American peoples and all people, as a teacher, librarian, administrator and volunteer. Her interests included archaeology, history, and historic preservation. One of her most recent contributions was a paper she wrote that was instrumental in preserving the last remaining building of the old Albuquerque Indian School. She also had a key role in developing a modern archive at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

On Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. her cremated remains will be interred at Sunset Memorial Park in the Centennial Urn Garden, 924 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque. At 2:00 p.m., there will be a Memorial Service at Botts Hall in the Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque. Please visit our online guestbook for Catherine at www.FrenchFunerals.com.

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