1913
Milton
2010
Milton J. Perry
May 20, 1913 — September 14, 2010
Milton J. Perry, age 97, of 205 Experiment Station Lane, graduated to his "Long Home" Eccl. 12;5 on Tuesday, September 14, at Maury Regional Medical Center.
Funeral services will be conducted at the Graymere Church of Christ, of which he was a Charter Member, on Sunday at 2:00 P.M., with Bro. John R. Vaughan, Bro. Kirk Brothers, Bro. Wendell Robinson and Bro. Mike Williams officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Lawrence County.
Visitation with friends will be at Williams Funeral Home in Columbia from 3:00 – 7:00 P.M. Saturday.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Viola Martin Perry, on October 30, 1993, his second wife, Virginia Sharpe Lentz Perry on June 22, 1999, and his only son, Milton Wayne Perry April 15, 2009. He is survived by one grandson, Richard "Rick" Perry of Manhattan, NY and Four Springs Farm on Blue Creek Road, Lynnville, TN.
He was born may 20, 1913 at St. Joseph, TN, the only son of James Reuben and Mary Alice Quillen Perry, and graduated at Loretto High School as Class Poet in 1931. He was never acclaimed as a child prodigy, but through intensive home study, was able to teach Chemistry and Science at that institution at the age of 17. After graduation, due to the Great Depression, he was unable, financially, to attend college. However, after a Civil Service Examination, he obtained a position with the U.S. Corp of Engineers in Memphis, TN, a position he held until he elected to transfer to the U.S. Postal Service in Mt. Pleasant, TN. He served there as a city letter carrier for 36 years, after which he received a Presidential Appointment as Postmaster there, a total tenure of 42 years in the Postal Service.
He was a retired member of the Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Rotary Club, and was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow. He was also a noted poet; some of his writings appearing regularly in the Nashville Banner and the Tennessean, and was honored as "Golden poet" by the National Library of Poetry in 1991 and "Great Poets of the Western World" in October 2008.
He was also an itinerant Gospel Minister for many years. He was an avid gardener, signing his plot as "The Garden of Eatin' ". He enjoyed supplying his friends and neighbors with these goodies. His maxim was: "In the absence of my Master, I am here to serve." He was also skilled in carpentry and mechanics, and enjoyed exercising these skills, and always tried to get a laugh from everyone, believing profoundly in Prov. 17:22.
Pallbearers will be Ron Sellers, Clay Johnson, Mike Johnson, Raymond Cockerham, Harry Lanier, Richard McAdams and Charles Webster. Honorary pallbearers will be Glen Kinnard, Judge Bobby Sands, County Mayor Jim Bailey, Dr. James Marshall, Dr. Angela Joynes, Dr. Rebecca Hawkins, Nancy Thompson, Waymon Hickman, Houston Parks, and all the doctors and nurses in the Cardiac Unit at Maury Regional Medical Center, and the Elders and Deacons and dear friends at the Graymere Church of Christ.
The family requests memorial donations be made to Columbia Academy, 1101 West 7th Street, Columbia, TN 38401 or Timothy Hill Children's Ranch, 298 Middle Road, Riverhead, NY 11901.
Funeral services will be conducted at the Graymere Church of Christ, of which he was a Charter Member, on Sunday at 2:00 P.M., with Bro. John R. Vaughan, Bro. Kirk Brothers, Bro. Wendell Robinson and Bro. Mike Williams officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Lawrence County.
Visitation with friends will be at Williams Funeral Home in Columbia from 3:00 – 7:00 P.M. Saturday.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Viola Martin Perry, on October 30, 1993, his second wife, Virginia Sharpe Lentz Perry on June 22, 1999, and his only son, Milton Wayne Perry April 15, 2009. He is survived by one grandson, Richard "Rick" Perry of Manhattan, NY and Four Springs Farm on Blue Creek Road, Lynnville, TN.
He was born may 20, 1913 at St. Joseph, TN, the only son of James Reuben and Mary Alice Quillen Perry, and graduated at Loretto High School as Class Poet in 1931. He was never acclaimed as a child prodigy, but through intensive home study, was able to teach Chemistry and Science at that institution at the age of 17. After graduation, due to the Great Depression, he was unable, financially, to attend college. However, after a Civil Service Examination, he obtained a position with the U.S. Corp of Engineers in Memphis, TN, a position he held until he elected to transfer to the U.S. Postal Service in Mt. Pleasant, TN. He served there as a city letter carrier for 36 years, after which he received a Presidential Appointment as Postmaster there, a total tenure of 42 years in the Postal Service.
He was a retired member of the Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Rotary Club, and was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow. He was also a noted poet; some of his writings appearing regularly in the Nashville Banner and the Tennessean, and was honored as "Golden poet" by the National Library of Poetry in 1991 and "Great Poets of the Western World" in October 2008.
He was also an itinerant Gospel Minister for many years. He was an avid gardener, signing his plot as "The Garden of Eatin' ". He enjoyed supplying his friends and neighbors with these goodies. His maxim was: "In the absence of my Master, I am here to serve." He was also skilled in carpentry and mechanics, and enjoyed exercising these skills, and always tried to get a laugh from everyone, believing profoundly in Prov. 17:22.
Pallbearers will be Ron Sellers, Clay Johnson, Mike Johnson, Raymond Cockerham, Harry Lanier, Richard McAdams and Charles Webster. Honorary pallbearers will be Glen Kinnard, Judge Bobby Sands, County Mayor Jim Bailey, Dr. James Marshall, Dr. Angela Joynes, Dr. Rebecca Hawkins, Nancy Thompson, Waymon Hickman, Houston Parks, and all the doctors and nurses in the Cardiac Unit at Maury Regional Medical Center, and the Elders and Deacons and dear friends at the Graymere Church of Christ.
The family requests memorial donations be made to Columbia Academy, 1101 West 7th Street, Columbia, TN 38401 or Timothy Hill Children's Ranch, 298 Middle Road, Riverhead, NY 11901.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Milton J. Perry, please visit our flower store.
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