Dr. Hal Clark Purcell

Hal C. Purcell, M.D. Long time San Luis Obispo resident, Hal C. Purcell, M.D. passed away peacefully from this earth on April 7, 2017. He was born to the late Dwight V. and Maxine G. Purcell on May 6, 1934, in the mid western farming community of Hampton, Iowa. One of Dr. Purcell's favorite activities was walking to the Avila Beach Post Office and saying hello to his neighbors. He was well known in the community and often reminisced on how it reminded him of the friendly town where he grew up. There are many ways to describe Hal, but he would most likely want to be remembered for his determined work ethic and pioneering spirit. Hal credited his small town up bringing, within a family of newspaper men, for these qualities that he valued. After his pre-med training at the University of California, Berkeley, Hal graduated from the University of lowa College of Medicine and Completed an ophthalmology residency at Wake Forest University and a research fellowship in diabetic retinopathy at The Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. In 1966 his family moved to San Luis Obispo where he started the ophthalmology practice that later became Pacific Eye. He developed a taste for pioneering success when he performed San Luis Obispo's first LASER eye treatment in 1966 and its first intraocular operation in I975.In 1981, Hal undertook the greatest challenge of his life. Over the next 30 years, along with friends and family, he helped establish Purcell Jojoba International as a world leader in the production, processing and marketing of Jojoba. PJI contributed to the foundation of the fledgling jojoba industry with research in genetic plant selection "from the ground" harvesting. This start-up of the first new U.S. crop in the past 125 years involved formal research agreements with the USDA and University of California, as well as a multitude of innovative trial and error projects. Hal is survived by his sister, Mary Judith Love of White Bear Lake Minn· his"double cousin," 'Tom W.Purcell, M.D. of Bayfield, Wisconsin; four children: Linda Satchell of Hawaii, Susan Pickard of Atascadero California, Hal C. "Chip" Purcell' of Lake Havasu, Arizona. and Karen Purcell of Monterey, California; their mother Marjorie Edgren also of Monterey, California; and numerous cousins nieces, nephews, 'grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hal was preceded in death by his son, Michael J. Purcell·his wife of 27 years, Keiko I.'Purcell; his parents; and his brother, Dwight V. Purcell II. A service will be held at 11:00 am, Friday, April 14, 2017, at Reis Mortuary with a simple Celebration of Life at 2:00 pm, at Manse on Marsh. Sign his guestbook at sanluisobispo.com/obituaries

Dr. Hal Clark Purcell

May 6, 1934 - April 7, 2017