Willaim R. Purcell, 70, retired general superintendent of the Chicago Sun-Times composing room, died Friday in his Beecher home. Mr. Purcell was born in Davenport, Iowa, where he lived until joining the Army and heading overseas during the last years of World War II. He returned to Davenport and married Vivian Ehrecke. The couple moved to Chicago Heights in the late 1950s, when Mr. Purcell began working in the composing room at the Chicago Daily News. After the Daily News folded in 1978, he became an employee of the Chicago Sun-Times until retiring in 1994. Mr. Purcell is survived by two sons, Terry and Timothy; three daughters, Mary Beth Keener, Shelley Mays and Patricia Seymour; a sister; two brothers; and 14 grandchildren. Services will begin at 9:15 a.m. Monday in Tews Funeral Home, 18230 S. Dixie Highway, Homewood, followed by a 10 a.m. mass in St. Kieran Church, 724 W. 195th St., Chicago Heights.
