The service of celebration of the life and ministry of Elaine Frederick Perry will be held at the Christchurch, at 8800 Vaughn Road in Montgomery, beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. The Rev. John-Michael von Dyke will officiate. The family will greet friends at the church immediately following the service. A private interment for family members only will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010, with the Rev. Richard Oberheide officiating, at the Knights of Pythias Cemetery in Russellville.
She was born on Dec. 27, 1919, in Goodsprings. Both her husband, Felton F. Perry Sr., who was born in Lawrence County, and her parents, Joshua Oliver Frederick, who was born in Marion County, and Minnie Smith Frederick, who was born in Franklin County, Ga., predeceased her. She was married to Felton F. Perry Sr. on Nov. 16, 1947. They were together until his death on April 1, 1980. A former member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, she was one of the founding members of the Christchurch in Montgomery.
She graduated from Deshler High School in Tuscumbia in 1938 and from Athens College, Class of 1943. She also obtained a Bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College, a Master’s degree from Samford University, and her AA Certificate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Kappa Delta Epsilon and Kappa Delta Pi educational sororities and Pi Tau Chi, Honorary Religious Sorority.
Following graduation from Athens College in 1943, she was employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Florence from 1944 through 1948. After she married, she moved to Birmingham, where she began her family. She worked with the Rev. Paul Davies Brinkley to found the church-sponsored kindergarten at the Pike Avenue Baptist Church, located in the Bush Hills area of Birmingham, in the early 1950s. Beginning in 1963, she taught fourth grade at the Minor Elementary School in Ensley, a suburb of Birmingham, until she retired in the mid-1980’s.
She was an avid reader, an excellent cook and enjoyed working crossword puzzles. She leaves as her survivors a daughter, Nancy Perry, of Montgomery; son, Dr. Felton F. Perry, Jr. (Gloria) of Jasper; and former daughter-in-law, Jane Bottoms Perry Holmes (David), of Birmingham. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Jessica Suzanne Perry Cleckler, Helena; F. Scott Perry (Michelle), Dora; Samantha Brook Perry, Austin, Texas; and Zachary Patterson (Christina), Vallejo, Calif.; and great-grandchildren, Victoria Skye Cleckler, Helena; Gabriel and Abigail Colvert, Dora; Miles Patterson and Hannah Whitenight, Vallejo, Calif.; Kaitlyn Burgess and Jacob Perry, Dora.
Additional survivors include brother-in-law Lloyd Pennington of East Peoria, Ill.; a host of nieces and nephews, beloved friend and former college roommate, Opal Whitten Stephenson, Decatur, formerly of Sebring, Fla.; and devoted companion, Minnie Williams.
Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Paul R. Hubbert, Dr. Joe L. Reed, Theron Stokes, Monica Arrington, Dunbar Evans, Scott McNelley, the headquarters staff of the AEA, Dr. James T. McLaughlin and staff, Dr. Beverly Stoudemire-Howlett and staff, and the staff of the third floor, North Wing of the Jackson Hospital.
The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the Christchurch Building Fund, c/o Christchurch, 8800 Vaughn Road, Montgomery, AL 36117 (334.387.0566). For more information, please visit the church website at www.christchurchxp.net
Southern Memorial, Montgomery; 334-271-4404