In Memory of John A. Purdy
We are excited to announce that John’s dream of space travel has been upgraded and will take place in Q4 2023 on the Enterprise Flight.He will be traveling to deep space, leaving the Earth-Moon system.
The Celestis Enterprise Flight ™ will launch from planet Earth and travel beyond the Earth-Moon system, beyond the James Webb telescope, and into interplanetary deep space – where it will join the other planets, moons, comets, and asteroids in our solar system on a never-ending journey through the cosmos.
Upon completion of its powered burn and coast phase, the Enterprise Flight will become Enterprise Station™ – the most distant permanent human repository outpost and a pathfinder for the continuing human exploration of space.
The Enterprise Flight, carrying specially manufactured and inscribed individual flight capsules containing cremated remains, complete human genome individual DNA samples, and names and messages of well-wishers from around the globe will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Aboard Enterprise, fittingly, will be the creator and several cast members of the original Star Trek television series, as well as an Apollo-era astronaut, together with people from all walks of life, interests, and vocations. Enterprise is truly a once-in-a-lifetime, exclusive opportunity for you or your loved ones – or both – to join an incredible mission of purpose alongside the most recognizable personas in space exploration, real or imagined.
Learn more here: https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/enterprise-flight/
John Anthony Purdy, age 67, passed away on June 29, 2023, after a long and difficult recovery from a double-lung transplant in July ’22. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to North Redington Beach, Florida in 2021 after several decades spent in Dallas, TX. He was a programmer, photographer, drone pilot, and business owner with many years of experience in the online and digital media industry.
John was the middle child of seven to Al and Barbara Purdy and lived in the Atlanta, Georgia, area for most of his childhood. A self-described “Jesus freak” in his teen years, he attended Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he graduated with a degree in Theology. While attending college, he also met and married his first wife, Ann McVay, and in 1984 they moved to Dallas, Texas, shortly before the birth of their first and only child, Jackie.
He began exploring photography as a teen, and that interest in visual mediums was apparent throughout his career. He worked as a camera operator at a TV station while in college, and once in Dallas, he worked as a “Multimedia Specialist,” designing PowerPoint presentations with interesting graphics and charts at Nortel. From there, during the dot com bubble, he moved into Producer roles at several interactive agencies that developed everything from computer games to websites to other Audio/Visual and IT solutions.
In the spring of 1999, John called Cindy Rodella for a job interview his boss found on Monster.com; they talked for 2 hours like old friends. She then flew to Dallas for an interview with his company at Icon Interactive. Six months later, they were dating, then six months after that married in September of 2000. They worked at numerous companies together over the next 24 years, then founded Creative Cat Media, Inc. Where they worked together from their home studios for nearly 15 years, they worked side-by-side developing websites and custom programming and producing corporate brochures, videos, artwork, and more.
While he was always excited to be behind the camera throughout the years, it was during this time that he expanded his interest to business and professional photography, and finally, drone photography. In 2017 he earned his FAA Certified Commercial Drone Pilot’s license. He wrote and published a children’s book called The Adventures of Leonardo the Drone, illustrated by Cindy and featuring a scannable QR code to photos and videos of his drone photography. https://johnapurdy.com/
John was a cancer survivor, successfully beating stage 3 colon cancer after surgery, chemo, and radiation in 2005. The treatments that helped fight cancer caused lung issues in 2015. It started slowly and finally culminated with a diagnosis of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis. John and Cindy moved outside of St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2021; in 2022, he was put on the waiting list for a double-lung transplant. He was on the list for only five days before receiving the call, and on July 6, 2022, he received the gift of a new pair of lungs. His recovery was difficult, however, and he struggled with a number of painful and debilitating setbacks that saw him go in and out of the hospital over the next year. In late June of 2023 while again in the ICU on life support, John let his family know that he was ready to move on, and wished to stop fighting a losing battle. On June 29, he passed away peacefully, surrounded by love and family.
John was often a mentor to others, and enjoyed teaching and sharing knowledge. A tech-nerd and space geek, he was a NASA ambassador. He owned a number of telescopes through the years and loved to stargaze. He loved everything about space travel. In June of 2022 he got a personal tour of NASA – a bucket list item he cherished.
He is preceded in death by his father, Alfred Purdy, mother, Barbara Purdy, and brother Chris Purdy. He is survived by his wife, Cindy Rodella-Purdy; his daughter Jackie Purdy-Andrews, her husband Paul Andrews, and their daughter Georgie Andrews; his brothers and sisters Alfred Purdy, Patricia Rosenberg, Mary Bohling, Tim Purdy, Teresa Purdy, and their families; and his first wife Ann McVay and her family.