Roger Moroney
IF someone had approached John Purcell six months ago and suggested they were going to nominate him for a New Year's Honours award his answer would have been short and to the point.
"Not on your Nellie," Mr Purcell said with a laugh. "I look around and see so many
other people out there who do so much good work and who should be recognised ... to get this is so humbling for me.
"To think that someone has seen you doing something and put your name forward ... I am humbled."
Mr Purcell will add his New Year honour of the Queen's Service Medal (QSM) for services to the community to the Year of the Veteran Award (one of only 10 nationally) which he received for his commitment to the welfare of veterans.
A member of the Napier RSA for 40 years, and now life member and president, Mr Purcell has the role of District Welfare Liaison Officer and works for the rights of veterans in the East Coast, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa regions.
It is a role which means calls come in at all hours. Calls he always takes.
The work is challenging and often tiring, but the successful results of getting benefits for veterans is, he says, what keeps him passionate about the job.
"I don't know if you'd describe it as a calling or not ... I just like to go to battle for them.
"When you get them coming in and saying 'thank you' ... that's all the payment I need."
Mr Purcell has also been a long-time committed pursuer of justice for the sailors and their families who had suffered as a result of the British nuclear bomb testing off Christmas Island in 1957 and 1958. He knows first hand what they went through as he served aboard HMNZS Pukaki and witnessed the tests.
After a nine-year navy career he spent nearly 30 years with the Department of Justice in the prison service, and managed the old Napier Prison as well as Hawke's Bay Prison at Mangaroa, and was prison representative on the District Parole Board.
He has served on the joint Board of Governors for the Napier Boy's and Napier Girl's High Schools and served on the Board of Trustees of Colenso High School. His work for young people also saw him join the Kneecap Trust which assists youth at risk in Napier.
"It is a privilege to be nominated for an award and an honour to receive one - especially for things you are passionate about and enjoy doing."
And he paid special tribute to the one person in his life whose support he said he could not have achieved his aims without - wife Patricia.
"I just could not have done it without her."
Roger Moroney
IF someone had approached John Purcell six months ago and suggested they were going to nominate him for a New Year's Honours award his answer would have been short and to the point.
"Not on your Nellie," Mr Purcell said with a laugh. "I look around and see so many
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