Chip Purdy - Marine, Golfer, Family Man

When I met my father-in-law, Chip Purdy, he was a district manager at Roche Pharmaceuticals. He was a former Marine, pilot, and car enthusiast. He loved the outdoors, was wicked smart, scratch golfer and good whatever he put his mind to. He always had a smile and was very gracious and well loved. Around age 50 he started having some startling personality changes. We assumed it was a stereotypical mid-life crisis. However, one day around age 52 he was presenting at a POA meeting and he made no sense. A family friend who was attending the meeting called my brother-in-law and said something is not right with your dad. A year and a half later and after a lot of tests, he went to a neurologist and was quickly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Chip had turned into a shell of his former self. As his eyes became more and more vacant, we watched him slip away to a space where we couldn’t reach him. And although he may not know where he was or who he was with, if you put on a praise and worship song, he would start singing and somehow would remember all the words and sing it perfectly. It was heartbreaking to see the rapid decline and it took an enormous toll on my mother-in-law, as she thought they would spend their prime empty nest years traveling and enjoying one another. At age 61 when people start thinking about preparing for retirement, he succumbed to the disease.

We will always cherish the good times we had with him and be thankful for the positive impact he had not only on us, but others around him.

In recognition of Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, please consider sharing your stories, getting involved or donating at www.alz.org.?