Chris Pursell, as “Chrissy” became known in her adult years, died in 2016, four days shy of her 82nd birthday. Jimmy Pursell, her husband of nearly 63 years, celebrated his 89th birthday this past summer.

The senior Pursell and his old buddy Jim Nabors remained long-distance friends until Nabors’ death in 2017.

“My dad would tell you in a heartbeat that Jim Nabors is one of his closest friends ever,” David Pursell says. “They would pick up the phone and talk at least once a week.”

A lasting gift to Pursell Farms

Over the years, Nabors visited Pursell Farms many times, including attending the grand opening of the golf course in 2003, and he often brought friends from Hawaii with him, David Pursell says.

It was on one of his last visits that Nabors invited David and Ellen to come to Hawaii to see what they would like from his collection.

At the time, The Inn at Pursell Farms, a recent addition to the property, was still in the planning stages and several years away from opening.

“We were telling Jim about building this, which is now The Inn at Purcell Farms, and he kept saying, ‘I’ve got all this stuff. There’s probably some stuff you might want to use,'” Pursell says.

David, the CEO of Pursell Farms and an accomplished artist, and Ellen, the decorator who picked out the fabrics and furnishings for all the buildings on the property, took Nabors up on his offer and spent a week with him in Hawaii.

“The stuff didn’t mean anything to him anymore,” David Pursell says. “And I think he kind of realized he was getting towards the end of his life, and what good is it if it’s sitting in a storage unit?”

In addition to the antique pool table, David and Ellen discovered a 15th century carving of Madonna and Child by Italian sculptor Luca della Robbia that Nabors bought while he was on a tour of Austria.

They also found a 300-piece pewter collection that was a gift to Nabors from the family that owned General Mills, which sponsored “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”

After he died, Nabors also entrusted David Pursell with all his original scripts from “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” and his variety show “The Jim Nabors Hour.”

Like the pool table, the della Robbia carving and one of the pieces from the pewter collection are on display at The Inn at Pursell Farms. A 12-seat dinner table that they also found has been put to practical use in the dining area at Old Tom’s Pub.