I. G. Purser, the youngest of six children, was born Dec. 29, 1926 to Hettie and James Emerson Purser in Non, Oklahoma. The family moved to Geary, Oklahoma where he graduated from Geary high school.
I. G. became a Christian at an early age and on one of his four trips to Israel I. G. reaffirmed his belief in Jesus and was baptized in the Jordan River. I. G. served in the army in WWII. After the war, he turned down an appointment to attend West Point Military Academy so he could go to college with friends in Oklahoma. He was attending Southwestern College in 1949 when he married Maxine Cearley, also from Geary. They moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma A & M College. In 1950 I. G. started his Police career at Tinker Air Force base. In 1953 he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department. He prayed frequently that God would help him make the right decisions concerning other people. While I. G. was a patrolman the Chief of Police assigned him to assist the state legislature in updating some old laws. At that time five of the larger cities in the state had a city retirement system; smaller towns had no retirement system. Working with the speaker of the house, Purser assisted in getting constitutional authority to create a statewide twenty-year retirement system that all officers in the state now enjoy. He was given the pen Governor Raymond Gary used to sign the Bill into law. When I. G. was a Police Lieutenant, he graduated from a year-long course in Police Administration at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He also graduated from the National F.B.I. Academy in Washington D. C. Purser rose in the ranks of the Oklahoma City Police Department to become the Chief of Police.
He retired in 1977 and became Personnel Director to an oil well servicing co. A year later, he was promoted to president of the company. Later, he had his own company for a few years. After retiring from the oil business he was contacted by a committee who asked him to run for Oklahoma City Council. I. G. at first refused, but they asked him to think about it. He contacted his pastor and they read Romans 13 about government and prayed about it and I. G. decided to run. He was elected to the council by a wide margin and was re-elected four years later by an even larger majority. While on the council he pushed through a resolution requiring the City to go out for competitive bids on all high dollar contracts. God used I. G. again when the Surrey Hills Baptist Church was building a new, larger sanctuary and the building committee asked him to serve as chairman of the oversight committee for the sanctuary's construction.
I. G. is survived by Maxine, his wife of 55 years; two sons Carl Alan and wife Tracy of Norman, Kenneth Wayne and wife Betty of Joplin, MO; two grandsons, Michael Kenneth and David Ryan of Joplin, MO; two sisters Jean Davison and husband Jack of San Gabriel, CA, Leona Brown and husband Morris of Blackwell, Oklahoma. I. G. was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, B. K. in Phoenix, AZ, and Glen in Blackwell, Oklahoma and a sister, Gearldine Mallouf of Brownwood, Texas.
Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, 2004 at Surrey Hills Baptist Church, Northwest highway and Mustang Rd. Reverend Bruce Hill will officiate, and Reverend Art Fray will assist. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memory Gardens under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
RESTHAVEN FUNERAL HOME S.W. 104TH AT WALKER 691-1661
Published in The Oklahoman on 7/5/2004.
I. G. became a Christian at an early age and on one of his four trips to Israel I. G. reaffirmed his belief in Jesus and was baptized in the Jordan River. I. G. served in the army in WWII. After the war, he turned down an appointment to attend West Point Military Academy so he could go to college with friends in Oklahoma. He was attending Southwestern College in 1949 when he married Maxine Cearley, also from Geary. They moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma A & M College. In 1950 I. G. started his Police career at Tinker Air Force base. In 1953 he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department. He prayed frequently that God would help him make the right decisions concerning other people. While I. G. was a patrolman the Chief of Police assigned him to assist the state legislature in updating some old laws. At that time five of the larger cities in the state had a city retirement system; smaller towns had no retirement system. Working with the speaker of the house, Purser assisted in getting constitutional authority to create a statewide twenty-year retirement system that all officers in the state now enjoy. He was given the pen Governor Raymond Gary used to sign the Bill into law. When I. G. was a Police Lieutenant, he graduated from a year-long course in Police Administration at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He also graduated from the National F.B.I. Academy in Washington D. C. Purser rose in the ranks of the Oklahoma City Police Department to become the Chief of Police.
He retired in 1977 and became Personnel Director to an oil well servicing co. A year later, he was promoted to president of the company. Later, he had his own company for a few years. After retiring from the oil business he was contacted by a committee who asked him to run for Oklahoma City Council. I. G. at first refused, but they asked him to think about it. He contacted his pastor and they read Romans 13 about government and prayed about it and I. G. decided to run. He was elected to the council by a wide margin and was re-elected four years later by an even larger majority. While on the council he pushed through a resolution requiring the City to go out for competitive bids on all high dollar contracts. God used I. G. again when the Surrey Hills Baptist Church was building a new, larger sanctuary and the building committee asked him to serve as chairman of the oversight committee for the sanctuary's construction.
I. G. is survived by Maxine, his wife of 55 years; two sons Carl Alan and wife Tracy of Norman, Kenneth Wayne and wife Betty of Joplin, MO; two grandsons, Michael Kenneth and David Ryan of Joplin, MO; two sisters Jean Davison and husband Jack of San Gabriel, CA, Leona Brown and husband Morris of Blackwell, Oklahoma. I. G. was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, B. K. in Phoenix, AZ, and Glen in Blackwell, Oklahoma and a sister, Gearldine Mallouf of Brownwood, Texas.
Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, 2004 at Surrey Hills Baptist Church, Northwest highway and Mustang Rd. Reverend Bruce Hill will officiate, and Reverend Art Fray will assist. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memory Gardens under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
RESTHAVEN FUNERAL HOME S.W. 104TH AT WALKER 691-1661
Published in The Oklahoman on 7/5/2004.
I. G. Purser, the youngest of six children, was born Dec. 29, 1926 to Hettie and James Emerson Purser in Non, Oklahoma. The family moved to Geary, Oklahoma where he graduated from Geary high school.
I. G. became a Christian at an early age and on one of his four trips to Israel I. G. reaffirmed his belief in Jesus and was baptized in the Jordan River. I. G. served in the army in WWII. After the war, he turned down an appointment to attend West Point Military Academy so he could go to college with friends in Oklahoma. He was attending Southwestern College in 1949 when he married Maxine Cearley, also from Geary. They moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma A & M College. In 1950 I. G. started his Police career at Tinker Air Force base. In 1953 he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department. He prayed frequently that God would help him make the right decisions concerning other people. While I. G. was a patrolman the Chief of Police assigned him to assist the state legislature in updating some old laws. At that time five of the larger cities in the state had a city retirement system; smaller towns had no retirement system. Working with the speaker of the house, Purser assisted in getting constitutional authority to create a statewide twenty-year retirement system that all officers in the state now enjoy. He was given the pen Governor Raymond Gary used to sign the Bill into law. When I. G. was a Police Lieutenant, he graduated from a year-long course in Police Administration at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He also graduated from the National F.B.I. Academy in Washington D. C. Purser rose in the ranks of the Oklahoma City Police Department to become the Chief of Police.
He retired in 1977 and became Personnel Director to an oil well servicing co. A year later, he was promoted to president of the company. Later, he had his own company for a few years. After retiring from the oil business he was contacted by a committee who asked him to run for Oklahoma City Council. I. G. at first refused, but they asked him to think about it. He contacted his pastor and they read Romans 13 about government and prayed about it and I. G. decided to run. He was elected to the council by a wide margin and was re-elected four years later by an even larger majority. While on the council he pushed through a resolution requiring the City to go out for competitive bids on all high dollar contracts. God used I. G. again when the Surrey Hills Baptist Church was building a new, larger sanctuary and the building committee asked him to serve as chairman of the oversight committee for the sanctuary's construction.
I. G. is survived by Maxine, his wife of 55 years; two sons Carl Alan and wife Tracy of Norman, Kenneth Wayne and wife Betty of Joplin, MO; two grandsons, Michael Kenneth and David Ryan of Joplin, MO; two sisters Jean Davison and husband Jack of San Gabriel, CA, Leona Brown and husband Morris of Blackwell, Oklahoma. I. G. was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, B. K. in Phoenix, AZ, and Glen in Blackwell, Oklahoma and a sister, Gearldine Mallouf of Brownwood, Texas.
Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, 2004 at Surrey Hills Baptist Church, Northwest highway and Mustang Rd. Reverend Bruce Hill will officiate, and Reverend Art Fray will assist. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memory Gardens under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
RESTHAVEN FUNERAL HOME S.W. 104TH AT WALKER 691-1661
Published in The Oklahoman on 7/5/2004.
I. G. became a Christian at an early age and on one of his four trips to Israel I. G. reaffirmed his belief in Jesus and was baptized in the Jordan River. I. G. served in the army in WWII. After the war, he turned down an appointment to attend West Point Military Academy so he could go to college with friends in Oklahoma. He was attending Southwestern College in 1949 when he married Maxine Cearley, also from Geary. They moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma A & M College. In 1950 I. G. started his Police career at Tinker Air Force base. In 1953 he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department. He prayed frequently that God would help him make the right decisions concerning other people. While I. G. was a patrolman the Chief of Police assigned him to assist the state legislature in updating some old laws. At that time five of the larger cities in the state had a city retirement system; smaller towns had no retirement system. Working with the speaker of the house, Purser assisted in getting constitutional authority to create a statewide twenty-year retirement system that all officers in the state now enjoy. He was given the pen Governor Raymond Gary used to sign the Bill into law. When I. G. was a Police Lieutenant, he graduated from a year-long course in Police Administration at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He also graduated from the National F.B.I. Academy in Washington D. C. Purser rose in the ranks of the Oklahoma City Police Department to become the Chief of Police.
He retired in 1977 and became Personnel Director to an oil well servicing co. A year later, he was promoted to president of the company. Later, he had his own company for a few years. After retiring from the oil business he was contacted by a committee who asked him to run for Oklahoma City Council. I. G. at first refused, but they asked him to think about it. He contacted his pastor and they read Romans 13 about government and prayed about it and I. G. decided to run. He was elected to the council by a wide margin and was re-elected four years later by an even larger majority. While on the council he pushed through a resolution requiring the City to go out for competitive bids on all high dollar contracts. God used I. G. again when the Surrey Hills Baptist Church was building a new, larger sanctuary and the building committee asked him to serve as chairman of the oversight committee for the sanctuary's construction.
I. G. is survived by Maxine, his wife of 55 years; two sons Carl Alan and wife Tracy of Norman, Kenneth Wayne and wife Betty of Joplin, MO; two grandsons, Michael Kenneth and David Ryan of Joplin, MO; two sisters Jean Davison and husband Jack of San Gabriel, CA, Leona Brown and husband Morris of Blackwell, Oklahoma. I. G. was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, B. K. in Phoenix, AZ, and Glen in Blackwell, Oklahoma and a sister, Gearldine Mallouf of Brownwood, Texas.
Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, 2004 at Surrey Hills Baptist Church, Northwest highway and Mustang Rd. Reverend Bruce Hill will officiate, and Reverend Art Fray will assist. Interment will follow at Resthaven Memory Gardens under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
RESTHAVEN FUNERAL HOME S.W. 104TH AT WALKER 691-1661
Published in The Oklahoman on 7/5/2004.
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