Pat Purdy obituary

My mother, Pat Purdy, who has died from Alzheimer’s aged 87, was passionately committed to supporting children. After working as a paediatric nurse, she founded a multidisciplinary centre caring for pre-school children with complex special needs, Lee Lodge, in Braintree, Essex, which she then ran for more than 20 years.Pat was born in Hove, East Sussex, to Vi (nee Jackson), an accounts clerk, and Sidney Barnard, a waiter. An only child with no cousins, she said her childhood had been very