Diane Purdy-Theriault

Diane (Ganzel) Purdy-Theriault, 81, of Quincy and formerly of Weymouth, was called home to Heaven unexpectedly on Wednesday, December 24 “Christmas Eve” surrounded by her loving and adoring family.

 Born on September 19, 1933 in West Quincy, she was the loving daughter of the late John C. Ganzel and his wife Marion of West Quincy, Helga S. Knuttenun Ganzel Moore and her husband, Joe of Hull.  She was raised in West Quincy and graduated from Quincy High School in 1951.  She attended Emerson College from 1951 to 1954 and returned to her studies at UMass Boston graduating in 1978 with her BA in English and Theater Arts.

 Diane was once referred to as an “Icon” by the Patriot Ledger’s late City Editor, Bill Flynn for her work as the Founder and Creative Director of Diane Purdy’s Children’s Theatre Workshop which she first opened in North Weymouth in 1970 and ran for 20 years at the Woodward School in Quincy.

 In her 40 years at the helm of CTW, she helped mold children with her no nonsense approach of training young thespians in the art of acting for the stage.   During her career she produced hundreds of staged performances of her original children’s plays.  Her ‘drama by doing’ approach taught children that in order to be an actor, one must act; it was not something you can learn from reading a book.

 While attending UMass in the 1970’s, Diane met casting director, Herb Mandell of The Casting Company of Boston who began casting she and her students in film and television productions.  Diane became a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild and was proud of her union affiliation and work in the New England Film and Television Industry.

 Diane’s true passion was as a writer and she loved to see her characters come alive on the stage and she never stopped writing.  Her two most recent accomplishments were the publication of her children’s book “The Bedraggled Dragon” based on one of her children’s plays and her award-winning play “I’m Not Sick, I’m Dying” that was inspired by her late aunt, Marie Knuttenun’s battle with Multiple Melanoma and her late student, Eric Torvi of Quincy’s battle with Brain Cancer.

 Diane enjoyed traveling with her husband to places like Hawaii, San Francisco and Aruba and especially enjoyed seeing the Grand Canyon.  She was an avid reader of fiction and loved watching shows like Criminal Minds and Law and Order.

 Diane was full of life and energy and will always be remembered for her spark and spitfire personality.  She loved her late kitty, “Pumpkin” and her newest kitty “Jet” with all of her heart.  She will be sadly missed by all of her family, friends, students, alumni, colleagues and fans of her work.

 Diane is survived by her loving and devoted husband, Russell Theriault, of Quincy, formerly of Weymouth, who she married on February 14, 1982 “Valentine’s Day”.  She is also survived by her loving and adoring children, Michael J. Purdy and his wife, Anne Marie of Duxbury; her daughter, Kim Purdy of Quincy, Laurie Purdy Middendorf and her husband, David of Norwell and Valrico, FL; Jodi Purdy-Quinlan and her husband, Charles of Weymouth and Rene Theriault of East Bridgewater.  She was the devoted and loving grandmother to Taylor Middendorf of Valrico, FL, Daniel Middendorf of Weymouth, Sarah Purdy of Montreal, John Quinlan and Jake Quinlan of Weymouth.  She is survived by her devoted friend and non-biological son, Mike McKay and his wife Sadie of Weymouth and Dorchester.  She was the loving Grand Godmother of Christopher Keough and wife Sharon and their son, Desmond of Weymouth.  

 She is also survived by her devoted and loving sister, Marcia Roussos and her husband Bernard of Norwell and their children, Garry and Michelle Hebert, Christopher Hebert, Peter and Laurie Breen and Jennifer and Dan Duran and their children.  She was the sister of the late John “Jack” Ganzel and his wife Kay of Campton, NH and their children Ricky and Sandra Ganzel, Robin and Dave Hart, Donald and Pam Ganzel, John Ganzel, Kathy and Kevin Daugherty and Kristi Ganzel and their children and grandchildren.  She is the loving sister of Dennis and Judy Theriault of Framingham, the late Maryann Keddy of Quincy, Charles Hudson and the late Jane Hudson of Weymouth, Karen Purdy and the late David Purdy of FL, John and Kay Dino of AZ and Donnie & Renee Dino of VA and the late Bruce and Linda Purdy of MI and all of their children and grandchildren.  She was the daughter-in-law of Archie and Kay Theriault of Weymouth. She is also survived by her first husband and friend, Jack Purdy of Weymouth.  She is survived by all of her loving CTW alumni and families and her Facebook friends and fans.

 Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the visiting hours on Sunday 1-5 PM in the McDonald Keohane Funeral Home NORTH WEYMOUTH at 40 Sea Street (off RT.3A-Bicknell Sq.) followed by a prayer service in the funeral home at 5 PM. Donations in memory of Diane may be made to American Heart Association, 300 5th Ave., Suite 6, Waltham, MA 02451.