North Reading Rotary - Club Members

Henry "Hank" Purnell was born on April 26, 1942, in Charlestown, Massachusetts and was the son of the late William E. Purnell and Josephine (McManus) Boque. He was the stepson of the late Robert Boque. Hank was raised and attended school in Charlestown and was a graduate of Charlestown High School.

Some time in 1961 Hank moved to North Reading and became a member of the North Reading Police Department in 1996. In 1996 he was appointed a Patrol Officer of the North Reading Police Department and in 1971 he was appointedto the position of Detective. After attending Specialized TPF Training at the FBI Academy i Quantico Virginia in 1972 he was appointed to Sergeant Detective in 1974 and was selcetd "The Police Officer of the Year in 1975. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and Night Shift Commander in 1981 and was promoted to Chief of the Department in 1985, serving as Chief until 2007. He was an active member of the North Reading Police Department for 41 years and was Chief for 22 of those years.^{(North Reading Transcript)}

One North Reading business man has been noted to say that "Hank" was the type of person that everyone liked. He loved the Town of North Reading and all of it's residents, almost as much as he loved his family. He will be noted as a Chief and an individual who will be greatly missed and a Chief that may never be totally replaced. He was in fact a "Hero to All."

Hank was devoted to the North Reading Rotary Club as much as he was devoted to his family and the town. He joined the Rotary Club in 1984 just before he became the Chief of Police in 1985 and in 1986 he became President Elect and in 1987 the Club President. He had a straight no nonsence approach in everything he did and never had a hidden agenda. But what ever he did and the way he did it always came from the heart.

Below are just a few of the pictures that our club has of Hank and we would like to share them with you.

These two stand by themselves

Hank and his lovely wife Joanna Hank and his grandson Luke, an honarary Sergeant

at one of our "All Night Parties." at Arms, who visited our lunch meetings quite often.

Because he could share this with

some of the youth in town, this was

one of Hanks favorite events.

Hank is seated third from the right at one of our jont meetings with the Lynnfield Rotary Club.

Seated next to Hank on the left is Past District Governor Carl Wold, from the Lynnfield Club

and seated in the left front are Judy Pinney and Janice Wood (ltor) both members of the North

Reading Club.

Hank is noted in the center of this photo which was taken at one of our lunch meeting in 2007 and

2008. Left to right are: Peter Majane, David O'Neil, Hank, PDG Carl Wold (from the Lynnfield Club),

Douglas Mercurio and Mary Ellen Carr.

Hank and his close freind John Norton at one Hank and one of his closest friends who knew

of the "All Night Parties." not only in Rotary but also in their shared line

of work, Law Enforcement, Steve May.

YES, WE WILL MISS HANK.