Virginia Young Purvis, the daughter of Robert James Young and Effie Virginia Woods Young, was born on February 25, 1910, at Sulligent, Alabama. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and has done graduate work at Auburn University. She is the wife of Rufus J. Purvis, and they have one son, Robert, who is currently working in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Mrs. Purvis started her association with public education in Opp in 1938. During the next 35 years, her positive influence was felt by approximately 6,000 Opp students. She did not limit her abilities to teaching English. She was advisor to the school annual and the school paper. She directed plays. During World War II she served as Principal of Opp High School. During her career, she served as a principal for a total of 6 years. After serving as a principal, she continued to teach and serve as an assistant principal for virtually the remainder of her career. But she never gave up her first love of teaching English.
Mrs. Purvis’ love of home and job did cause her to decline to serve as President of the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs. She did, however, accept and serve as First Vice President and District Director of the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs. Her vocational associations gave her another avenue of service. She was a member of the Alabama State Textbook Committee, the Alabama Education Association, and the National Education Association. She served as District President of the Alabama Education Association and as President of the Opp Teachers Association. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority and the Sesame Club.
She is an accomplished musician and served many years as organist for the First United Methodist Church of Opp, where she is a member. Since her retirement from classroom English teaching, she has continued teaching piano in her home. Her retirement activities have also included working on various projects for the Opp Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Opp Historical Society.
Mrs. Purvis’ contribution to her community may be taken from the words of her former students when they wrote “while doing an outstanding job of teaching us English, she, in her low-key manner, instilled in us the desire to learn, the knowledge that success comes only after hard work and the willingness to stick to the job at hand. She taught us never to accept mediocrity in our lives. In addition, she saw us each as individuals and had the uncanny ability to see and answer our needs that many times had little to do with classroom performance”. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.
