John Purvis

John Anderson Purvis

August 31, 1942 - December 21, 2024

John Anderson Purvis, 82, died on December 21, 2024, surrounded by his youngest daughter and his son. He was born on August 31, 1942, in Greeley. He was the only son of Emma Lou and Virgil J. Purvis. He graduated from North High School, and attended Harvard University where he graduated cum laude in 1965. He then attended the University of Colorado School of Law, where he received his JD in 1968. In 1976, he married his wife, Charlotte, his partner in life for 48 years.

He had a long and remarkable career as an attorney in Colorado, beginning in the Boulder County Public Defenders Office in 1968 and ending in private practice, where he focused primarily on representing brain injury victims and cases. He was a practicing attorney until the year he died.

In 1978, he received the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the Colorado Bar Association. He was listed among the Best Lawyers of America every year since 1989. In 1997, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Colorado Law Alumni Association. He was the Colorado State Chair of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He chaired the Committee on Conduct of the United States District Court in Colorado, the Litigation Council of the Colorado Bar Association, and the Colorado Public Defender Commission. He taught Evidence, Advanced Trial Advocacy, and Trial Advocacy at the University of Colorado Law School.

In 2019, he received the prestigious William Lee Knous Award in recognition of outstanding achievement and sustained service to Colorado law. He was one of only a small handful of lawyers nationally to be elected to the International Society of Barristers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

He is and will always be remembered for many things, not least among them his delight with life and his contagious sense of humor. He loved his family, art, politics, dogs, traveling abroad, detective fiction, green chile, sports, and anything that made him laugh until he cried.

He is survived by his wife, sister, son, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. In keeping with his wishes, there will be no memorial service.