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Jean Purrington Remmel Little
Jean Purrington Remmel Little, born on June 11, 1928, died peacefully at her home in Southampton, New York, on May 1, 2024. Jean was the beloved daughter of Florence (Polly) and Donald Purrington of South Hadley and Holyoke, Massachusetts. Her beloved brother was Donald (Jack) Purrington, who died before her. She graduated from the Mary A. Burnham Preparatory School, a predecessor of the Stoneleigh-Burnham School, and attended the University of Maryland.
Jean was married to Edward Gilbert O’Shea (divorced 1955), Harmon Liveright (Buck) Remmel, John Watson Little, and William FitzSimmons, each deceased.
Jean exuberantly enjoyed life, family and friends, with a serious underlying principle: she believed in helping others. She deeply believed in charitable endeavors and charity’s great purpose in life.
The role of charity in healthcare was a lifelong concern, as it had been for her mother Polly.
Jean devoted herself to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Southampton Hospital, the Bronx Zoo, and the Southampton Garden Club, one of the founding clubs of the Garden Club of America. She served on the Board of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1981 to 2012. Within that time she served on the Board of Overseers from 1985 to 1989. She served as President of Th e Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1981 to 1985. She organized and presided over events for Th e Society at Radio Center Music Hall with Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, George Shearing, Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Ross, and others, that provided substantial support for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Jean served on the Board of Southampton Hospital from 1985 to 2015. She was a member of the Board of the Southampton Hospital Foundation since 2004, and was Secretary of the Board for a portion of that time. Jean organized for many years the summer events for the Southampton Hospital Foundation that united full time and summer residents in support of an institution fundamentally important to Southampton and its future. She loved and supported Southampton, its community and institutions.
Jean is survived by her loving family, her step-children Alexandra Remmel Swoope, and husband Carter, and Harmon Lawrence Remmel, and wife Helen, her cousins Sarah Purrington Fujiwara and Tricia Purrington Deck, her niece, Cynthia Purrington Ingle, three grandchildren, Towson, Christian and Helene, to whom she was lovingly known as Gramma Jean, eight great-grandchildren, multiple step-children, and an extended family, including Remmel Dickinson and Liza Little, each of whom she loved.
A family service will be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, with burial by the side of her husband Harmon Liveright Remmel at Oakland and Fraternal Historic Cemetery Park. A memorial service and a celebration of Jean’s life will be held in July in Southampton. In lieu of fl owers, donations may be made to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Southampton Hospital. Th e family is grateful to Olga Johnson, and to Jean’s caregivers, East End Hospice and ComfortKeepers.
Staff Writer on May 7, 2024