01 · The cowboy
At home in the saddle
Put a cowboy hat on Dad and you’re getting close to the man we remember. He loved being a cowboy.
November 4 · In remembrance
Happy birthday, Dad.
For Mom and all of us who miss him. Try telling somebody about Dad without getting to the cowboy hat, the Mardi Gras parades, or the time he reached barehanded into a pit full of rattlesnakes.
Santa Cruz, Bolivia · Where their story began
Luly was his whole world.
Dad went to Bolivia to work in the oil fields. In Santa Cruz he met Mom. They married on April 29, 1961, and built a life together that carried Bolivia with them to Mobile.
From the day he met her to his last breath, Dad looked after Mom. That’s how we remember him, and it’s the part of his life we most want to tell.
As remembered by his family
The Tom we knew
02 · Mardi Gras
Out on the parade route
When Mardi Gras came around, Dad joined the show. He performed in the parades, right out there where Mobile came to celebrate.
03 · The rattlesnake pit
A thousand rattlers
A thousand rattlers in the pit, the way we remember it. Dad stepped in, let them surround him, grabbed one barehanded, and milked it for the crowd. The proceeds went toward making antivenom, as we remember it.
The family scrapbook
Family Album
A place for the pictures and newspaper clippings Luly chooses to share, and for the stories she remembers when she turns them over.
Tom & Luly
Bolivia, Mobile, and family life.
Out and About
Cowboy days, Mardi Gras, and adventures with Tom.
From the Clipping Box
Newspaper stories, campaign keepsakes, and photographs from his years as sheriff.
For friends and family
Guest Book
What do you remember about Tom?
Maybe you knew him on the parade route, worked with him, or have a story the family has never heard. This space is set aside for those memories.
Guest book entries will open later
From the public record
Twenty years as sheriff
- 1974–75
- Elected Mobile County sheriff in 1974 and took office in 1975. University of South Alabama
- 1980–81
- Served as president of the Alabama Sheriffs Association. He also served as president of the Alabama Peace Officers Association. Sheriffs Association roster · Congressional Record
- 1984
- Served on Mobile County’s inaugural 911 board. Mobile County 911
- 1993
- A federal directory listed Clifford Conklin as the sheriff’s department’s information-systems contact and described the department’s computerized records. Federal directory
- 1994
- Congressman Sonny Callahan honored Purvis in Congress and credited him with creating the Junior Deputy Program. Read the tribute, pp. 4142–4143
- 1998
- Received federal recognition as Bolivia’s honorary consul in Mobile. U.S. Department of State
The historical archive
Read the record
The full dossier includes the biography, the federal prosecution that ended in Purvis’s acquittal, the civil cases, and the sources behind each account. It keeps the family’s recollections alongside the public record and identifies files that still need to be located.
Read the dossier Download editable dossierNovember 4
We miss you, Dad.
With love, from your family.