Virginia Bodkin Purkel

Virginia Bodkin Purkel, age 98, died on March 6, 2025 at Addington Place of Shiloh, Illinois.
She was born in Bardwell, Kentucky, May 5, 1926, to the late Roxie and Oscar Bodkin.
Virginia married Arthur Warren Purkel in 1944, and they were residing in Mascoutah, Illinois at the time of his death in 1988. She then moved to O'Fallon, Illinois, and lived there until moving to Addington Place of Shiloh in 2021.

Virginia and “Art” moved their family to Mascoutah in 1965, entering into a five-year project of restoring a 1904 home and furnishing it with antiques. She was always active in the community, serving as president of the Mascoutah Tuesday Women's Club 1966-1968. She later began working to complete her bachelor's degree. Virginia traveled to Sheffield, England for a work/study program in hospice care, and she received her degree in social work from SIU Edwardsville in 1981. She then participated in the establishment of the first hospice in Belleville, Illinois, Four Fountains Hospice.
In the years that followed, Virginia led a weekly discussion group for Four Fountains, called Town Square. After moving to O'Fallon, she joined the First United Presbyterian
Church of Belleville, Illinois, and served as chairperson of the library committee there.

Virginia was preceded in death by her sister, Barbara Bodkin Ford and her husband Reuben Ford; her brother Thomas Bodkin and his wife Mary Key Bodkin; her nephews; Kenneth Harlan Bodkin and Christopher Lee Bodkin; and her husband, Arthur Warren Purkel Sr.

Virginia is survived by her children, Arthur Warren Purkel, Andrea Purkel Neilson and her husband Kyle; her grandchildren, Megan Anne Neilson and Evan Arthur Neilson; her nephew, Frank Mount Bodkin and his wife Deborah; her great-nephew Nathan Daniel Bodkin; her great-nieces, Dawn Bodkin Hawkins, Melissa Bodkin Bilyeu, and Terresa Bodkin Dowdy.

Following a graveside service for the family on March 14, Virginia will be buried beside her husband at the Old Bardwell Cemetery in Bardwell, Kentucky. In her memory, please consider a donation in lieu of flowers. Donations are welcomed by two charities Virginia admired: AYS (education and support for Chicago children in need), asianyouthservices.org, and the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois (emergency shelter and support for victims of domestic violence), vpcswi.org.
You may leave a message for the family or light a candle at www.milnerandorr.com.