James W. (Jim) Perry Obituary

James Watkins (Jim) Perry, 101, passed away on Tuesday, October 5, 2021. For the past thirteen years he was a resident of Wylie, Texas.

Jim was born on August 21, 1920, to Thomas Cowan Perry and Jane Lillian Halliburton in Fisher County, Texas. When he was two years old, the family, including three older siblings, moved west in a covered wagon to Gaines County, Texas, where they lived the next eight years. After the onset of the Great Depression, they moved a little further west to Lovington, New Mexico, and then on to Hobbs, New Mexico. In Hobbs he met the love of his life, Ruth Keetch. They were married in a double ceremony at the Mesa Theater in Lovington, New Mexico, on June 12, 1940, alongside their friends J.T. Owen and Jewel Warren.

On May 30, 1944, Jim was inducted into the US Army and served in the World War II Pacific theater until November 27, 1945.

Jim and family, with their three children at the time, moved from Hobbs to California in 1948 and back to Hobbs in 1950, where he went to work for Phillips Petroleum Company. In 1953, after the birth of their fourth child, Jim and Ruth moved to Spraberry, a community outside Midland, Texas, where he worked as a gas plant operator for the next twenty-nine years. He retired from Phillips in February 1982. Along the way they adopted a fifth child.

In 1988 Jim and Ruth moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where they lived in retirement for twenty very happy years. They enjoyed taking their RV up into the mountains in western Colorado, where Jim spent many enjoyable hours fly fishing. He was also an avid gardener and always had plenty of produce to share with friends and neighbors. In 2008 Jim and Ruth returned to Texas, living for a short period in Tyler before they moved to Wylie. Jim and Ruth were married for seventy-six years before her death in 2016 at the age of 92.

Jim was always very active in his community and his church. He was elected to the Greenwood Independent School board near Midland for two separate terms, and he served on the council at both Midland Lutheran Church and Messiah Lutheran Church (in Grand Junction). His final church home was Faith Lutheran in Wylie. He and Ruth also volunteered with Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, and the Grand Junction Veterans Hospital, among other things. Jim also opened his home to many friends and extended family over the years, with several of them living with the family for extended periods. Among his many positive attributes, his generosity of spirit was perhaps foremost.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife Ruth Perry, son Jimmy Perry, and great-great grandson Liam Harrison. He is survived by children Libby Schovajsa and husband George of Hotchkiss, Colorado; Nonie Jobe of Rowlett, Texas; Gary Perry and wife Diana of Wylie, Texas; and Jeffery Perry and wife Vickie of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He is also survived by twelve grandchildren, twenty-three great grandchildren, and twelve great-great grandchildren.

Viewing will take place at Allen Funeral Home in Wylie from 6 to 8pm on Friday, October 8. The funeral service will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, Wylie, at 3pm on Saturday, October 9, and interment will be at Pickwick-McAdams Cemetery in Graford, Texas, at 4pm on Sunday, October 10.

In lieu of flowers you may donate to North Texas Food Bank ( North Texas Food Bank (ntfb.org) or any charity of your choice.