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Ocean City Today
OCTOBER 15, 2021
OBITUARIES JOHN H. PURNELL Berlin John “Jack” H. Purnell was born on the 4th of July on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Jack enjoyed life—a life that included business, international travel, and a devoted love for family and friends. He died peacefully after a long illness that John Purnell he endured with remarkable patience and dignity. Jack spent his younger years in Long Island, New York, followed by his teens in Beirut, Lebanon, where his father took an overseas assignment. He then returned to the United States and graduated from John’s Hopkins University with a B.S. in chemical engineering and an M.B.A. with distinction from Wharton. He married Pat, his wife of 56 years, and moved to St. Louis where he was employed with Anheuser-Busch for 36 years. His many responsibilities included heading Corporate Planning and Development and Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. He served as a member of the Anheuser-Busch Strategy Committee and the Corporate Office.
To borrow a tagline from the company, making friends was his business. He loved to travel, for work or pleasure, and developed solid friendships with his international business associates. Often, after difficult meetings or negotiations, he defused tensions over dinner with his famous sense of humor, sharing stories and jokes. He was a brilliant negotiator of “the win-win” in business and personal interactions. During retirement, Jack served on the boards of Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis and Gene Slay’s Boys’ and Girls’ Club of St. Louis. He also worked as an “Executive in Residence” in The John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University, where he advised students and taught a popular class for future marketers. Jack will be remembered for his positive outlook, mentorship, generosity, kindness, humor, and genuine love for the treasured people in his life. His favorite karaoke song was “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. His way of leading life was a good one. Along with his wife, Pat, he is survived by his brother, two daughters, and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at 11: a.m. at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Berlin.
TYLER GROTON Randallstown Tyler Groton, 35, died unexpectedly on Oct. 6, 2021, at Northwest Hospital in Randallstown, Maryland. Tyler was born on Feb. 22, 1986, in Salisbury, Maryland, to parents Thomas C. Groton III and Althea Smith Groton. Tyler is survived by his parents, Judge Tyler Groton Thomas Groton III and, Althea Smith Groton; and Clay Groton IV (brother), and wife, Melissa, of Cambridge. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, T. Clay Groton, Jr. and Marie Danzeglock Groton, and maternal grandparents, Andrew Custis Smith and Belinda Hill Smith. He is also survived by an aunt, Lynne Weidner; cousin, Melisa Anne Weidner; niece, Anna Groton; nephew, Adam Groton; aunt, Tish Dryden; uncle, Ray Dryden; cousin, Alex Dryden; and James Price, as well as numerous friends. Although born in Salisbury, Tyler grew up in Snow Hill. He had been a member of the Nassawango Country Club swim team and later became a certified lifeguard in which capacity he worked for the lower shore YMCA for
many years. He was a member of the Boy Scout Troop 193 in Pocomoke and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Tyler’s Eagle Scout project consisted of building a shelter for homeless cats. He also participated for a number of years in the gifted and talented writing program. Tyler completed the Crystal Beach Triathlon, placing first in his age group. After attending Snow Hill elementary and middle school, he graduated from Salisbury Christian School where he whetted his appetite for acting; appearing as “Motel,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and numerous other plays at the school. He attended Towson University and graduated in 2008 with a Bachelors’ Degree in theater. As a theater major at Towson, he appeared in “ Zoo Story,” “Diary of Anne Frank” and “Largo Desolato,” among several others. He also served on lighting, sound, building, backstage, and costume crews. Tyler was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He lived in the Mt. Vernon Section of Baltimore City where he was active with numerous theaters in the area, most prominently the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Continued on Page 55
Wehrmacht could see some of the city’s major buildings. This was as close as the Germans would ever get to the city. By the end of November and into December, the temperature dropped precipitously. Lacking warm clothing and with freezing equipment, the German offensive ground to a halt in front of the stiffening Soviet resistance. All during this time, the Red Army was building its reserves for a counteroffensive. Acting on intelligence
that Japan was not going to mount an attack on the Soviet Far East, Stalin granted Zhukov more than 18 of the best equipped divisions trained to fight in the cold of Siberia. These fresh troops were used to spearhead the upcoming Soviet counteroffensive. On Dec. 5/6, more than one million Soviet troops, 1,700 tanks and 1,500 aircraft attacked the German front around Moscow. By Jan. 7, 1942, the Soviets had pushed the Germans back 62-155 miles from the city. In frustra-
tion, Adolf Hitler sacked many of his top commanders including Heinz Guderian, Field Marshals Bock and Walther von Brauchitsch, the commander-in-chief. With the collapse of the Soviet front before Moscow in the fall of 1941, it appeared that the Soviet capital would soon fall to the Nazi invaders. Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s decision to remain in Moscow to direct its defense proved to be the correct choice. Next week: Tula
WORLD WAR II Continued from Page 53 had frozen enough for the German panzers to resume their attack. On the 27th, the Wehrmacht was able to establish a bridgehead across the Moscow-Volga Canal — the last major obstacle in front of Moscow. They were soon driven back by a Soviet counterattack. Just northwest of the city, the Germans reached Krasnaya Polyana and Khimki, just 18 miles from the Kremlin in the center of Moscow. Off in the distance, the
