Funny. Caring. Devoted — to family, friends and her faith. Cecile-Marie Purdy was one of our most dedicated members. And one of our dearest friends. Cecile-Marie Purdy, president of AFSCME Local 645, died Nov. 3 after a battle with cancer. She was 50.

    A Milwaukee County social worker for 25 years, Cecile-Marie represented her local — Milwaukee County Professional Social Services, Human Services & Related Employees — with grace, aplomb and extraordinary care. Anything but cynical, Cecile was a “caring person who’d have given you the last drop of blood in her veins, if you needed it,” said Local 645’s Dawn Marie Sass, who met Cecile in 1997. “She was the sister I never had, I used to tell her.”

    Cecile also put a lot of stock into doing the right thing; it wasn’t a line with her, colleagues say. And she had the ability to put potentially thorny problems in perspective.

    “A lot of times, Ceil was kind of like The Voice of Reason,” Sass said.

    Or, as several colleagues referred to her, a quintessential “peacemaker” — within the Union as well as among family and friends.

    But first and foremost, Cecile cared about the people in her life, which in her view included the people she was born to serve: Milwaukee’s children.

    “When she had a caseload before her full-time release, she would try to get to know these kids inside and out,” Sass said. “The joke was, ‘Did you bring your lunch?’ If they didn’t have a ride home, she’d take them home. She wanted to know the best way to help.”

    She also believed wholeheartedly in the Union.

    “Cecile was a committed and dedicated trade unionist who cared deeply about her colleagues and the citizens they served,” said District Council 48 Executive Director Rich Abelson.

    Committed and dedicated enough to “instill unionism in her family,” Sass said. “Her daughter, Melisa, won an AFSCME essay contest in the late ‘90s.”

    ‘A wonderful sense of humor.’A devout Catholic, Cecile considered a private audience with Pope John Paul II as one of the most important moments of her life, Sass said. Cecile also was proud of her Polish heritage. And she knew how to have fun with it.

    “When [our office] moved into the Schlitz Park building in December of ‘01, we had a ‘Polish Sausage Day,’” Sass said. “We got the sausage from the European Home Made Sausage Shop, which makes the best Polish sausage ever. It was a great day. Ceil loved it.”

    Cecile also loved to laugh and to nudge others to laugh with her. “Ceil had a great sense of humor,” Sass said. “She had a wonderful sense of humor,” DC 48 Staff Rep John English interjected with emphasis.

    Among her favorite jokes: “She used to say, ‘I spent nine months naked with this man in a room’ — referring, of course, to her twin brother, Michael,” Sass said. Another story she loved to share: During her audience with John Paul II, Cecile said, “Dajmi Buzi” — which is Polish for “Give me a kiss” — to the Polish pontiff. “Only Cecile could have pulled that one off,” Sass said.

    A legacy of success and service. Recognizing the countless gifts she’s given us, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors planned to issue the following proclamation on Dec. 15:

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy, Milwaukee County employee for over 25 years, passed on from this life and into Eternal rest on November 3, 2005; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy had the reputation for keeping in contact with her clients long after their orders expired, but that was because she genuinely cared about all of her ‘kids’ often asking how they were doing in school, what their dreams for the future were and what was going on at home; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy often would drive her clients home if they did not have a ride, would stop and get them food if they were hungry, and would fight for what she thought the juvenile needed even if other agencies disagreed; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy served as a mentor for new staff often offering to help with the paperwork; she was a great people person and was able to cut through the bureaucracies a person often faced while doing a job; and

    “WHEREAS, often participating in many seminars on a variety of topics, Cecile-Marie Purdy could effectively deal with clients who had a wide range of issues and provide service to these clients while maintaining a positive manner; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy was elected president of AFSCME Local 645 serving her fellow union members with a dedication and professionalism, while maintaining her personal dignity by using a common sense approach when dealing with labor and management issues until an acceptable compromise could be worked out; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy, married David, on July 3, 1982, was the mother of three children, Melisa, John and Gregg who were the joy of her life, who prepared her well in her job working with children; and

    “WHEREAS, one of her most memorable events of her life was caught on film by a photographer during her trip to Rome when, in her private audience with Pope John Paul II she said to the him, ‘Dajmi Buzi,’ which is Polish for ‘Give me a kiss’ – at which time the Pope laughed; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy was a caring, compassionate and humorous woman often observed that her patience was derived from an early age, when she was forced to share her mother’s small womb with her twin brother for nine months; and

    “WHEREAS, Cecile-Marie Purdy passed from this life on November 3, 2005 and leaves behind her husband, her children, seven brothers, their wives and numerous nephews and nieces; now, therefore

    “BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, on the motion of Supervisors Jim ‘Luigi’ Schmitt, Mark Borkowski, Gerry Broderick, Paul M. Cesarz, Toni M. Clark, Elizabeth Coggs-Jones, Lynn DeBruin, Dan Devine, Marina Dimitrijevic, Willie Johnson Jr., Michael Mayo Sr., Ryan P. McCue, Richard D. Nyklewicz Jr., Roger Quindel, Joseph A. Rice, John F. Weishan Jr., Peggy A. West, James G. White and Chairman Lee Holloway do herewith express extreme sorrow at the passing of Cecile-Marie Purdy, a friend of all of Milwaukee County who has left a legacy of success and service, who was a role model to many and touched the lives of those who had the privilege to know her.”

    Donations in Cecile-Marie Purdy’s name may be sent to Shalom Center of Interfaith, 1713 62nd Street, Kenosha, WI 53143-0469.