John Irving Purmort

John Irving Purmort July 26, 1940 - August 11, 2023 John (“Jack”) Irving Purmort, 83, of Benicia, California, passed away on the evening of Friday, August 11 following a courageous two-and-a-half week battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia. He passed peacefully at John Muir Medical Center in Concord, CA with his hands held by his wife and son. Jack was born on July 26, 1940 to Benjamin Irving Purmort and Josephine Helitrope Purmort (Malland) in Oakland, California. After he graduated from Castlemont High School in 1958, he went on to study Chemistry at California State University-Hayward. In November of 1964, while stationed at Schofield Army Base on O’ahu, Hawai’i, Jack met Shirley Hall at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. They were married on March 19, 1966 in Reading, Massachusetts and lived in Saxonville for a year while Jack worked on the bench at Dow Chemical. Jack and Shirley went on to have two children, Jeffrey Benjamin Purmort and Jason Lee Purmort. In 1979, Jack and the family moved to Benicia from Dublin where they had lived for the previous 11 years. For the majority of his working career, Jack worked in the insurance industry where he held many roles for numerous companies. From 1970-1974 he was an Adjuster for General Adjustment Bureau (GAB) in San Ramon; from 1974-1982 he was an Adjuster and then promoted to a Manager for Foremost Insurance in Walnut Creek; from 1982-1991 he was a Claims Manager for Civil Service Employees Insurance (CSE) in San Francisco. Then, as he was already working as a Claims Manager at Delta Dental of California in San Francisco, an opportunity for a huge career change materialized and he became a Database Developer. Jack was self-taught in this field—something he would pursue on evenings and weekends away from work—and he enjoyed many years of building and managing a proprietary database used in-house; he was at Delta Dental from 1992-2006. After his retirement in 2006, Jack was finally able to play more golf and play more Bridge with friends, both life-long hobbies of great interest to him. He was also an avid reader until his eyes wouldn’t cooperate any longer. Jack was predeceased by his parents, Benjamin and Josephine Purmort (Malland) of Livermore, California; his brother, Benjamin Vanken Purmort and his sister, Josephine Ann Purmort of Livermore, California; and his son, Jason Lee Purmort of Benicia, California. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Shirley Edith Purmort (Hall) of Benicia, California; his son, Jeffrey Benjamin Purmort of Benicia, California; and his grandson, Putu Adhi Krishnadhana Purmort and his granddaughter, Kadek Swarda Kirandhana Purmort of Pacifica, California. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, August 23rd at Passalacqua Funeral Chapel, 901 West 2nd Street, Benicia. Burial will be private at Memory Gardens Cemetery, Livermore, CA.