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General Assembly colleagues remember Del. Harry R. Purkey #VaPolitics #VaGeneralAssembly →

The House of Delegates adjourned in honor of one of its own on Monday — former Del. Harry R. “Bob” Purkey, a Virginia Beach Republican who died Friday at 83.

Purkey represented the 82nd House District in Virginia Beach from 1985 until his retirement in 2014. His successor in the seat, Del. Jason Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, remembered Purkey as “somebody who passionately believed in service.”

While in the House, Purkey served for many years as chairman of the Finance Committee, now headed by Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan. Miyares recalled telling Purkey, who was a friend of his wife’s family and attended their wedding, that he had worked for Ware.

“He said, ‘Keep an eye on him — he’s an up-and-comer,’ ” Miyares recalled, prompting laughter in the House.

“He loved this institution,” Miyares said.

In the other chamber, Sens. William R. DeSteph Jr., R-Virginia Beach; John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake; and Tommy Norment, R-James City County, offered tributes to Purkey.