HAYDEN — When Lynn Purcell plays the piano, the keys smoke.

These are the words of Purcell’s friend Carlina Shelby, who met with a few others in Purcell’s home Thursday to honor Purcell and discuss her 30 years of playing piano for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hayden.

“The foot automatically starts tapping and a smile appears on everyone’s face. It is so wonderful to hear,” said Shelby, of Coeur d’Alene. “It’s not only her piano playing, it’s the woman that she is. She is lovely in every way.”

Purcell retired from her piano playing career June 1, mostly because of tendonitis that causes pain in her wrists. Her church had a big party to celebrate.

“The cake they had was amazing,” Purcell said. “It was like they had come out and taken a picture of my barn. It was so cool.”

Purcell has been playing the piano since she was about 5 years old. Her mother’s best friend taught piano and her daughter was one of Purcell’s best friends, so they learned how to play together. This is when Purcell’s piano passion began.

“My mother told me that she never, ever needed to tell me to practice,” she said. “I always have liked it.”

Purcell was born and raised in Almont, N.D. and studied music at Dickinson State University in Dickinson, N.D. She performed in recitals and the first church she played at was Almont Lutheran Church when she was in high school. Going to church has been a musical experience for her ever since.

“I haven’t just come to church and sat in a pew since high school,” she said.

Purcell’s love of music and of the piano shines through in her playing, which her friends hold in high esteem.

“Your emotions come through in your music,” friend Faye White told her. White, of Athol, has been singing in the St. Mark’s choir as long as Purcell has played there.

“One minute we’re dancing in our seats and then the next minute she has so touched our hearts that we have tears welling in our eyes.”

Purcell said she will never forget the day she became the piano player for the church. The usual piano player was out, and the minister asked the parishioners if anyone could play some hymns. A friend of Purcell’s spoke up and said, “I know! Lynn Purcell can play!”

“So I said, ‘Well, OK,’” Purcell said. “So that’s how I got started.”

“And once you started, we weren’t going to let you quit,” White said with a smile.

Purcell, 65, just recently found out she has lymphedema as well as the tendonitis. The lymphedema was most likely caused by the surgical removal of lymphnodes she underwent 17 years ago when she conquered breast cancer. The lymphedema compounds the pain from the tendonitis with swelling and the inability to stretch her arms properly.

“I would hate it if I didn’t think that I could ever play again,” she said. “It’s something that’s personal. It is a passion, it’s something that’s part of your life. It’s been there for so long that you just can’t imagine not being able to.”

Purcell has a close connection to the music she plays. She said it covers a wide range of emotions for her.

“I can play if I’m happy, if I’m emotional about something or if I’m sad,” she said. “It’s like a friend to me, that’s always there whenever I need to express myself.”

Purcell said she loves to play the gospel and ragtime, but she is going to take a break from the commitment of playing at St. Mark’s so she can let her arms and wrists rest and spend time with her 99-year-old dad who lives with her.

“We get along fairly well,” she said with a grin. “He tries to think he has to parent me yet, and I try to keep telling him, ‘I’m 65, Dad.’”

Although it is a bittersweet end to three decades at the keys, Purcell has agreed to occasionally substitute when she can. It will be a new experience for her to sit among the pews, reinvent herself as someone other than the St. Mark’s piano player and not have to worry about practicing so she can play with precision. It’s time for her to kick back, relax, and hear the music from a little bit farther away.

“Playing at St. Mark’s, everybody was always so appreciative, and everybody would always tell you what a good job you did and what they loved hearing,” she said. “It made you feel good no matter what. I think I got out of that as much as they got out from me. Especially when the choir would sing. It was sometimes just so spiritual. Even playing I’d get tears in my eyes because it sounded so good. I’m really going to miss that.”

See pictures and video from Purcell’s retirement party at www.stmarkslutheranhaydenidaho.com.