Willie Russell Purdee III was born on May 19th, 1967 to Bill and Anita Purdee in West Hamlin, WV. He lived in Branchland, which is in Lincoln, County, until the age of five when his parents and older sister, Dana, moved to North Carolina. Eventually the Purdee family moved to Cary, North Carolina where Willie graduated from Cary High School in 1986.
While attending North Carolina State University, Willie felt the call of God upon his life to enter Bible College and go into ministry. He was baptized in July of 1986 and became a member of the Capital City Church of Christ. Willie entered Roanoke Bible College in the fall of 1988 and during the two years in Elizabeth City he met Angie Nida from Huntington, WV. Willie served as part-time youth minister of the Philippi Chruch of Christ in Creswell, NC and summer youth intern at the Cary Christian Church during his time at RBC.
After transferring to Kentucky Christian College in the fall of 1990, Angie and Willie were wed by Larry McAdams at the Guyandotte Church of Christ. They were both active members of the church and Willie served as a summer intern during his time there. The elders of the church were supportive spiritually and financially and in March of 1992 they ordained Willie into Christian ministry.
Upon graduation in 1992 from Kentucky Christian College, Willie accepted the position of Associate Minister of the North Buillitt Christian Church. After serving the church for a year and a half Angie and the family moved to Roanode, VA and Willie became the Youth Minister of the Edgewood Christian Church. Angie was several months pregnant with their first child when they moved and on January 12th, 1994, Bethany Caroline was born. Soon to follow was her little brother, Jared Russell, who was born on November 16th, 1995.
The family decided to move back to Huntington, WV in 1996 and once again placed their membership at the Guyandotte Church of Christ. During this time Angie worked at St. Mary's Hospital and Willie took care of Bethany and Jared and attended school. During this time, they took up residence in South Point, OH. Angie and Willie were very involved at GCOC during this time and when the pulpit was vacant for several months, Willie contacted the elders about filling the pulpit on a full time basis. Following a trial sermon, Willie became the minister of the church on August 23, 1998.