{"id":352192,"date":"2024-08-23T14:48:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T04:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=352192"},"modified":"2024-08-23T15:50:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T05:50:43","slug":"obituary-mick-purser-1923-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/08\/23\/obituary-mick-purser-1923-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Obituary: Mick Purser 1923-2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FLASHBACK: Mick Purser and his wife Heather with son Russell celebrate Mick’s 100th birthday at Castra in 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Alf “Mick” Purser with his special 101st Birthday cake (Photo: Castra)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 23, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murgon’s oldest World War II veteran – and well-known local businessman – Alf “Mick” Purser has died.<\/p>\n

Mick celebrated his 101st birthday in April; his wife, Heather, died in January this year, aged 97.<\/p>\n

The pair had been residents at Southern Cross Care Castra in Murgon for many years.<\/p>\n

Murgon RSL Sub-Branch secretary Liz Williamson said Mick, who died on Thursday, was a long-standing member of the Sub-Branch and would be sadly missed.<\/p>\n

Mick has been a regular attendee at Murgon’s Anzac Day and Remembrance Day commemorations for years, and despite having just turned 101 was present on April 25 this year.<\/p>\n

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington also paid tribute to Mick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an honour to know and spend time with Mick Purser, a man who served our country with bravery and dedication during one of the most challenging times in our history,” Mrs Frecklington said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI send my heartfelt condolences to Mick\u2019s family and the Murgon community.”<\/p>\n

Mick was born in Kingaroy on April 19, 1923.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He enlisted with the RAAF on August 25, 1941, and rose to the rank of Warrant Officer.<\/p>\n

After training as a pilot, Mick flew DC-3s from Australia to Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

After he was discharged in 1946, Mick returned to Murgon to complete his apprenticeship as a mechanic.<\/p>\n

He became well-known as the owner of the Murgon Garage and later took over the local school bus runs.<\/p>\n

He also served on Murgon Shire Council for many years.<\/p>\n

Mick sold Pursers Coaches to Harvy Dascombe in 1996.<\/p>\n

Mick and Heather had two children, Russell and Lynne; four grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and several great-great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
FLASHBACK: Murgon centenarians Alf “Mick” Purser, Gladys Birch and George Ansell joined with Murgon Show Society patroness Gladys Sippel to cut the cake at the official opening of the Murgon’s Centenary Show in March<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murgon’s oldest World War II veteran – and well-known local businessman – Alf “Mick” Purser has died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":331077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[28],"yoast_head":"\nObituary: Mick Purser 1923-2024 - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Murgon's oldest World War II veteran - and well-known local businessman - Alf "Mick" Purser has died.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2024\/08\/23\/obituary-mick-purser-1923-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obituary: Mick Purser 1923-2024 - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Murgon's oldest World War II veteran - 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