DURHAM -- Mr. Chester Perkins, age 91, died Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at Carolina Point in Durham.
He was born and raised in Skowhegan, Maine, to the late Chester R. and Levina Calway Sally Perkins. He proudly served his country in the U.S Army during WWII.
After returning to the states, Chester was employed by the printing department of Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. for 37 years and retired in December 1981 due to poor health.
Chester was also involved in forming the Bethesda Fire Department where he served as Captain. He was also Assistant Scout Master for Troop 446 in Bethesda and served in the Bethesda Ruritan Club. Chester belonged to Chapter #21 Disabled American Veterans and was a member of #2740 Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Chester is survived by three sons, Chester Floyd Perkins (Ann), Larry D. Perkins (Patsy) and Charles Steven Perkins (Brenda); and one daughter, Teresa Susan Perkins, all of Durham; four sisters, Muriel Mullen, Ernestine Porter, Katherine Perkins and Nancy Lemiuex; eight grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. Chester was preceded in death by his loving wife, Dollie Mae.
He had been a member of Immaculate Conception Church in Durham for 50 years where he served as an usher for a number of years.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 16 from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church with Father Dan McLellan, OFM, presiding.
Burial with military honors will follow in Oak Grove Memorial Gardens on Cheek Road in Durham.
Friends may visit Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hall-Wynne Funeral Service in Durham.
The Perkins family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Services. Online condolences www.hallwynne.com.
i liked to call him grandpa.
although my life does not compare to his, i hope to live as healthy and as long as he did. he served in the u.s. army and fought in wwII. growing up, i remember hearing all of the stories from his time in the military. at family functions, bets were always placed to see how long it would take before grandpa would start talking about "the war". it was never long.
i would love to hear one of those stories right about now.
as a child, i remember spending countless hours at their house with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. there was a playhouse, full of bees every summer that grandpa always shooed away to make it safe for my cousins and i. and then, there was the swing that hung under the big tree in my grandma and grandpa's backyard. i never actually swung high enough to touch the clouds but grandpa was always there to encourage me not to give up. i remember waking up on weekends when i stayed and watching the little rascals, singing christmas songs in july, looking at all of the hundreds of pictures in the photo albums on the bookshelf beside the recliner in the living room, and taking trips to pullen park.
grandma was always there too, but it was grandpa who always told me the stories in all those pictures and rode that rickety train at pullen park.
i have so many memories and i want to take them all in and write them all down so that i will never forget those times.
the spooky cellar, the forbidden attic with all it's treasures, the pecan twirls for breakfast, riding in grandpa's car with it's vintage dial radio and listening to classical music, the giant magnolia tree in the backyard, the blackberry vines on the path to my dad's house, the white picket fence that never faded beyond a bright white, hiding under the bed, drawing secret pictures on the underneath of the coffee tables, and always having to "jiggle the handle" on the toilet in the bathroom.
my grandpa lived a full life and died a happy man. he didn't have cancer or any other crippling disease. he simply died of old age.
i love you grandpa. please say hi to grandma for me.
