Maureen B. Purvis is a well-known figure in Edmonton. She founded No Stone Left Alone (NSLA), an organization that honours Canadian men and women who gave their lives for peace. Her organization makes every effort to ensure today’s generation remembers and values veterans’ sacrifices, while never forgetting the cost of freedom, according to edmontonka.com.
A Difficult Childhood
Maureen was born on February 27, 1959, in Edmonton as the eleventh of thirteen children of Albert and Lillian. Her father served in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry during the Second World War, and her mother in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. After returning from the war, Albert became a bus driver, while Lillian stayed home to care for the children. When Maureen was 12, tragedy struck: her mother died of cancer, and the family fell apart. At 14, Maureen moved in with the Stuarts and remained in their care throughout high school. In tenth grade, she took a part-time job at Waterloo Ford, staying on for a few years after graduating. It was during that period that she met the owner’s son, Randall Purvis, whom she soon married.
Determined to break the cycle of violence she had witnessed, Maureen sought ways to help victims overcome life’s difficulties. Almost immediately after high school, she volunteered at the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, and then joined the “Big Brothers/Big Sisters” program. There she met five-year-old Patrick Huston, becoming his guardian. This program had a profound influence on Maureen’s life.
Throughout her life, Purvis kept a promise to her mother—to commemorate her every Remembrance Day. Year after year, she would visit her mother’s grave in Edmonton’s Beechmount Cemetery.
Founding a Company Recognized Worldwide
In 2011, with family and friends’ support, Maureen established No Stone Left Alone. Once, she encountered a young Canadian Armed Forces colonel who brought 80 soldiers newly returned from Afghanistan to NSLA’s first poppy-laying ceremony at Beechmount. A chance meeting with Alberta’s education minister also helped Purvis connect with two schools whose students took part in honouring Second World War veterans. All of this led to front-page coverage in the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun.
Maureen soon began organizing various memorial activities in Edmonton schools. She realized that ongoing commemoration required involving youth in more meaningful events. Only by learning soldiers’ stories and physically laying poppies at their graves would young people truly grasp the significance of veterans’ sacrifices for Canada. In that way, the brave Canadians who endured toxic gas at Ypres, fought valiantly at Vimy Ridge, and landed on Juno Beach in Normandy to liberate Europe came back to life, ceasing to be mere names on a list. Children would understand that these fallen once lived just like we do, except they had to set aside their hopes and dreams, leave home, and fulfill their duty to the country.
Maureen’s organization aims to preserve the memory of Canadian veterans, ensure national respect and gratitude for all who sacrificed their lives for peace at home and abroad, and inspire future generations to remember those who fought for their freedom.
The Growth of “No Stone Left Alone”
Together with her husband, Purvis reached out to new schools and contacted cemeteries. In year three, her project had expanded throughout Edmonton. As word spread about NSLA and its powerful impact on students, more and more schools ended up on the waiting list. Community leaders such as mayors, premiers, and lieutenant-governors came on board.
With its positive outcomes, the organization’s reach extended further, spanning all of Canada’s provinces. Global TV took responsibility for annual broadcasts of the main NSLA ceremony at Beechmount Cemetery.
NSLA also caught the attention of communities in other countries. Maureen and her team began receiving invitations to hold similar tributes from England and South Africa. The organization gained support in Europe, where gratitude remains strong for Canadians’ sacrifices in the fight against tyranny.
Despite these encouraging results, Maureen’s focus hasn’t shifted. She continues working to preserve the past in present and future public awareness, helping each generation appreciate the cost paid for our freedom. She encourages her students to send her reflective letters describing what they learned by participating in ceremonies.
No Stone Left Alone continues collaborating closely with teachers to educate children about Canada’s wartime history and prepare them for memorial events. Purvis’s organization also contracted a consulting firm specializing in education to develop a specialized lesson plan for classrooms.
Her administrative skills and willingness to share credit helped the company transcend its modest beginnings. Now NSLA is a registered non-profit with a small staff, supported by government, military, and high-ranking officials across Canada and Europe. Maureen, her husband, and their two daughters oversee the foundation. For her tremendous achievements, Purvis has earned numerous medals.