When the commission finished its work, Purcell was appointed by Governor Jim Rolph as the Chief Engineer responsible for the design and construction of the bridge.
After suffering several heart attacks, he died in Santa Clara County on June 2, 1934, aged 64, three years into his term.
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Rolph received considerable criticism for publicly praising the citizens of San Jose following the November 1933 lynching of the confessed murderers of Brooke Hart, a local department store heir, while promising to pardon anyone involved, thereby earning the nickname, "Governor Lynch".
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In 1915 he appeared as himself in an early documentary film titled Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco, which was directed by and starred Fatty Arbuckle.
James Rolph Jr. as Himself, Mayor of San Francisco (as Mayor Rolph)
He reached San Francisco on July 25, 1929, where he was received by Mayor (and future California governor) James Rolph, together with the cameras of Fox Movietone News.
The tunnel was opened on 21 October 1928 in a ceremony presided over by Mayor James Rolph.
He was appointed Judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court by Governor C.C. Young on August 3, 1927 and served until April 11, 1934, when he took an appointment from Governor Rolph as an Associate Justice for the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 3.
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