The life of Mrs Joyce Purcell MBE (From Wiltshire Times)

The life of Mrs Joyce Purcell MBE

1:51pm Friday 22nd January 2010

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Joyce Purcell, who was honoured by the Queen for her work for the government, died on Friday in Germany, months before her 100th birthday.

Born in London, she was an early pioneer in studying English and Journalism at Kings College, London, going on to found a commission agency for writers.

She married Ronald Purcell, who later became chief scientific advisor to the Admiralty, and they had two daughters, one of whom, Anna, died of infantile septicemia aged 15.

Following her divorce in about 1950 she worked in the Houses of Parliament for 23 years as secretary to Sir Howard d’Eguville, who founded and ran the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

He also founded the British American Parliamentary Group, which she ran after his retirement, organising conferences in the US and in the UK for the Foreign Office, the work that led to her MBE.

During her time in London she became very involved with Sufi Master Pir Vilayat Khan, who she worked with for many years.

She was given the Sufi name Rabia, and moved to Bradford on Avon in the 1980s, where she set up a community to study philosophy, healing and Sufism which inspired many people.

In 1993 she moved to live with her daughter Stephanie in Germany, but after two years she missed her friends in Bradford so much that she returned. She remained until in her 90s she became too frail to live alone and returned to Germany.

She also leaves five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Following a blessing service at her daughter’s home on Sunday she was cremated on Tuesday.

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