Veda Irene Purcell, age 73, passed away on September 11, 2016 at Brookdale Tanglewood Retirement Center in Houston, Texas. Irene was born on September 28, 1942 in Salisbury, North Carolina, and was the daughter of the late Irene zumBrunnen Purcell and Samuel Mitchell Purcell Jr. She graduated from Boyden High School in Salisbury NC in 1960, and from Sullens Junior College in Bristol, Virginia in 1962. She completed her Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Houston, majoring in physics, mathematics, and statistics. She was a longtime employee of American General Life Insurance Company at their international headquarters in Houston, Texas, starting as a keypunch machine operator, and working her way up to underwriter. She was also an underwriter for The Prudential Life Insurance Company and for Aetna. Prior to accepting a position with Prudential, she passed the Actuarial Exam with Tower Perrin in 1997. She retired in 2004. She had many friends in Houston, who will sorely miss her dry wit and honest opinions. She was preceded in death by her brother, George Ernest Purcell, in 2002. Surviving family members are her aunt, Alice Josephine Purcell, Salisbury, North Carolina; one brother, Samuel Mitchell Purcell III of Washington, North Carolina, and one sister, Marion Elizabeth Purcell Whatley, of Fletcher, North Carolina, and one nephew, Christopher Lawrence Whatley, of Mills River, North Carolina. Her service will be held at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Salisbury, North Carolina on October 29, 2016, at 11:00 AM, with burial to follow at City Memorial Park. The family asks that in Lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Veda Mae Beaver Scholarship Fund at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, 131 West Council Street, Salisbury, North Carolina, 28144. Summersett Funeral Home is serving the Purcell family. Online condolences may be made at www.summersettfuneralhome.com.