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John and Patty Purtteman pose
with his 1979 Ford Ranchero.
Always ready with a friendly smile and
congenial conversation, who would have ever though John
Purtteman is a fairly recent transplant to West Tennessee? He
and his wife, Patricia (Patty), moved to McKenzie just two and
a half years ago from Southern California, and though her
pronounced accent gives her away, she's also fitting in fine.
The Purttemans' move came when John decided he needed to be
nearer his sons, Barry and Bobby, who live in McKenzie, and
Mark, in Selmer. That was after, in 1999, he lost his oldest
son, John, Jr., to a heart attack at the unlikely age of 38.
"I just felt like I wanted to be with the boys," says John,
who waited until he retired to relocate.
Sons Bobby and Barry were already well entrenched in the local
scene. Bobby has been owner of the Sonic since 1989--three
years after he moved to Tennessee--and is also a member of the
McKenzie Water Board. Barry and his wife, Patty, last year
bought Jim Grant's share of Papa's Pizza to Go, another
popular eatery started by Bobby and Grant three years ago.
Barry tells he came to Tennessee 16 years ago, living first in
Selmer near his mom, Martha Carroll, before moving to McKenzie
in 1997 to help Bobby at the Sonic.
As winter wanes, John says he is still trying to get used to
West Tennessee weather after a lifetime of living in the mild
climes of Southern California. Born in Orange, California, he
was raised in the city of Perris along with his
two-year-younger sister, Joyce Galvin.
He was 13 or 14 years old when he ran a milk route in the
morning and bread route after school for Helms Bakery, selling
pies and cakes as well as bread right off the truck.
After graduating from high school in Perris, he ventured to
Riverside, working first at a paint factory and then as a
porter in the three-story clothing store, Harris Company.
A trucker by trade most of his life, he was around 19 years
old when he worked for Jack Allsup's beverage and soda pop
distribution business, driving to Gardena, California to pick
up the goods on a flat bed truck, then, back in Riverside,
distributing the load via delivery trucks. After that, he
worked for Murray's Hotel and Restaurant Supply Co. in Colton,
and, later, the Biagi Brothers in Napa.
In the meantime, his sons were born, John in 1962 followed
almost yearly Barry, Mark, and Bobby.
John has two grandchildren in California, John, Jr.'s children
Jessica and John. Barry and Patty have a son, Scott, while
Mark and wife Tammy have two children: Eric and Brooke. Bobby
and Alicia's daughter is Lauren Purtteman, well known locally
for her singing ability.
John and son Bobby at the Sonic
Drive-In restaurant.
John recalls how the boys used to go with him on the trucks to
help out. He laughs upon remembering one foggy morning when
Mark wore a ski mask to ward off the cold of the harbor since
he had to stick his head out the window to advise his father
how to steer.
"I really enjoyed it a lot when they used to go with me in the
trucks and help me," smiles John. "I really enjoyed raising
them up; I'm real proud of them and I've always been."
He was about 35 when he met Patty: "She used to work at a drug
store," he relates. "I'd go in there and kinda just flirt, you
know, and I finally asked her out and we started going
together." They married in July 1983. She now works as a
manager at Rural King in McKenzie.
Son Barry and John at the
Papa's Pizza to Go restaurant.
Patty's children, Janine, Bobby and Mark, who, along with
being coincidentally named are also similarly aged to John's
children at 42, 41, and 39, still live in California where
Jeanine's son, Jimmy Lee, is the father of Patty's
great-grandson, John, and Mark has a daughter named Vanessa.
Unfortunately, Patty doesn't expect to be joined by her
family, in fact, she's had difficulty influencing them even to
visit, but she knows first-hand how hard it can be to adjust
to a new way of life.
"In California it was completely different," she says from her
modest but uniquely beautiful living room. "We had a big
house; when we got here it was so small! Everything was too
little, and it was too far out in the country... I was in the
worst shape--I acted like a spoiled brat--but I love it now."
The Purttemans bought their home from Barry, later cutting the
back wall out to add a bright, sunlit room complemented by
yellow walls that go well with Patty's chicken and rooster
collection.
"That's what saved my life," she laughs. She painted the
living room walls a deep, becoming fuchsia to further
customize the home, which is accented throughout with the art
of her two very talented sisters. She says she feels slighted
that of five children in her family she wasn't blessed with an
artistic bent. The pristine view from their front room is
beautifully relaxing, with a big pond and log cabin across the
way in the uncluttered rural neighborhood.
Also added to the estate was a garage where John keeps his
pride and joy, a 1979 maroon and white Ranchero that he bought
in 1980.
"It's a terrific car," he says, "so I'm always washing, waxing
or whatever on it."
One room of their home-the "car room" is devoted to his model
car and stein collection and in which he also keeps his music
equipment and practices singing, a trait passed on from his
mother who, he shares, liked to tell how she sang at a couples
wedding and again at their 50th wedding anniversary.
"I've been singing all my life; I just like to do it. I've
always been in a choir someplace," he says.
After trying several churches, John and Patty settled in at
Long Heights Baptist Church, where he sings in the choir as
well as special music features.
"We liked Pastor Kenny and everybody there, and we've been
there ever since," says John, whose music style ranges from
old-time gospel hymns to country.
He enjoys being a "Coca-cola cowboy", most comfortable in
jeans and western shirts though he's had to shed his beloved
boots due to swelling in his ankles since being waylaid by a
blood clot last year.
John worked for Volunteer Trucking Company in Dresden until
October last year when his leg started giving him trouble.
"I'm still kind of in recovery," he says, lamenting the change
of lifestyle. He enjoyed the nighttime job that took him to
Nashville every evening, leaving at 6 or 7 p.m. where trucks
would converge to divvy up their loads, then head back to
Dresden with local-bound freight, arriving at 3 or 4 o'clock
in the morning.
"I was with them a year, they're a nice outfit. Bill Hazelwood
is the boss man out there; you can't find a better guy."
He works two days a week hauling cars from Memphis and
Nashville for Mark Anderson in McKenzie.
The couple's future plans are to just stay in McKenzie.
"I appreciate the way people have treated us since we've been
here; everybody is so friendly and nice," he says, "and I'm
glad for the church... As far as the people, it's been great.
That's what causes me to want to stay here. The people are so
different here; in California if you go by someone and say
'hi' you might not get a reply. Out here it's a lot
different."
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