Dr Miner Thomas Perkins

Dr. Miner Thomas (Tom) Perkins, age 91, of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, went to be with the Lord on August 11, 2025, at Monument Rehabilitation and Care Center. He was born on his mother’s birthday, April 5, 1934, to Kenneth Kearney and Margaret (Hope) Perkins, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the second of five children. After graduating from Omaha North High School, he enrolled at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. While a student at NWU he served the Lakeview and Emerald Methodist Churches, west of Lincoln. He also briefly served as an assistant minister at First Methodist Church in Scottsbluff while between schools. During his senior year he met Cara Ruth Hutchinson, and they married in 1957.

Their honeymoon consisted of driving to Dallas, Texas, to enroll at Southern Methodist University. While driving across Oklahoma, they had to outrun a tornado. At the beginning of his second year, Tom accepted a call to the Era and Spring Creek Methodist Churches. Each weekday he and Cara commuted to college. After dropping Cara off at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, he went on to Dallas. It was while in Era that Tom II was born.

Following graduation from SMU, Tom applied for acceptance into SMU’s Master’s program which required that he enroll in the Institute of Religion, an interdenominational seminary program on the Texas Medical Center Campus. This was designed to train men and women in the chaplaincy. His clinical assignment was at the Methodist Hospital in Houston. While there he was greatly impacted by Dr. Michael De Bakey’s perfecting of by-pass heart surgery. And the family grew with the birth of Lance.

Upon graduation the family moved back to Nebraska, where Tom served the Chester and Hubbell United Methodist Churches. From there it was to Fontana, Kansas, where he enrolled in the clinical program at Osawatomie State Hospital while serving the United Methodist Churches of Fontana and Beagle. He also continued post-graduate studies at the University of Kansas and studied Somato-Psychology. It was at this time he completed the requirements for the Master’s in Sacred Theology from SMU

The next move would be to Omaha, Nebraska, where Tom served as Chaplain at Nebraska Methodist Hospital. While there he was a part of the Douglas County Medical Society’s committee to design a program for doctors and ministers dealing with dying and death. He also helped develop the Personal Crisis Service Hotline, a suicide prevention service.

He was then asked to be the director of Uta Halee Home for Girls, a home for girls dealing with adjustment problems, family difficulties and trouble at school. Tom also served on the Mayor’s Commission on the Role and Status of Women and was known to write and speak on behalf of women’s rights. He also enrolled in the University of Nebraska Omaha’s social work program, where he graduated with a Master’s.

During this time, with the Uta Halee Board’s permission, he worked on a plan to deny a juvenile court judge’s re-election. He was also part of an inter-denominational and inter-racial group working to improve race relations in Omaha. Following his time at Uta Halee, he accepted a position as director of Equilibria Medical Center. A free clinic that worked with heroin and other hard drug addicts to become drug free. The clinic was also the largest STD treatment program in Nebraska and Western Iowa.

Following this he became the minister of Omaha Maplewood United Methodist Church. During his time there the Federal District Court ordered the Omaha School District to desegregate. The means to do this was to bus children to other parts of the city to create a racially diverse school system. Ministers from across the city were invited to train on how to organize their parishes for peaceful integration. Maplewood along with other churches and schools in their immediate area came up with a plan that was successful in helping bused students to have a good and safe experience.

When a position to be chaplain of West Nebraska General Hospital (now Regional West Medical Center) opened, Tom applied and was accepted. So, in 1978, the family moved to Scottsbluff. During his tenure he worked with patients and their families in stressful times, led seminars for clergy, developed a volunteer visitor’s program, led the American Cancer Society’s “I Can Cope” program for cancer patients and their families, and applied for and received a grant from the American Cancer Society to have a retreat for cancer patients and their families. This became the model for Camp Hope. Then, with the help of Dr. William Packard, Dr. Bob Calkins, Ruth White, R.N. and others, they developed the Good Shepherd Hospice Service, which was the forerunner of the Prairie Haven Hospice Service.

Tom eventually accepted a position at Panhandle Mental Health Center in Scottsbluff. During his time there he was a community educator, therapist, clinical director and eventually became its director. Never idle, while at the Center he applied for and received a grant from the Nebraska Department of Institutions to develop an emergency psychiatric service in western Nebraska. This was along the lines of Senator Don Wesley’s bill requiring counties with a first-class city to provide emergency psychiatric services in the area.

Another highlight was to help design a stress reduction service for emergency responders. Five state agencies came together to work on a plan and in turn asked Tom to develop a pilot project in western Nebraska. It would become the Nebraska Critical Incident Stress program. And somewhere in all this he managed to take classes from Denver University and eventually Walden University where he earned his Ph. D.

During this time, Tom was elected to the Western Community College Area Board, which he was a part of for more than 30 years. He had a strong belief in the value and importance of Western Nebraska Community College for the Panhandle. It provided people with a second chance at an education and offered certificates for those wanting to improve their skills. All this helped to improve the economy of the area.

He additionally served as a member of the Nebraska Community College Association Board, was a member of the Association of Community College Trustees Board in Washington D.C. and has served on several national committees related to community colleges.

An additional interest was his work with law enforcement and fire personnel. He was personally aware of the risks these men and women take on behalf of the safety and well-being of the community. As a result, he served on the Scottsbluff City’s Civil Service Commission and was its chair for several years.

He also held an appointment on the Board of Mental Health for the 12th Judicial District in the Panhandle, which he served on for several years. Additionally, he taught classes at Chadron State College as well as being the Florida State University tri-state representative for their social work master’s program.

For down time he had long ago discovered the joy of camping in the mountains, especially in winter, and cycling, getting up at five am and riding for 20 miles before going to work, and then eventually racing his bike in the Nebraska State Games and numerous other races.

In his own words he had done things he hadn’t thought possible. And been blessed beyond anything he had ever done. Blessed by a wonderful wife and family, the many people he had known, many of whom became close friends, and the experiences he had in the communities he lived in as well as across the country. Above of all he was thankful to God for making it all possible.

He is survived by his sons Tom (Susan) and their children Miner, John and Michaela; Lance (Rita) and their children Leslie (Jordan) Phillips, Hope (Caleb) Moore, and Matthew as well as two great-grandchildren Salem and Pax; and his brothers Doug Perkins and Marty Perkins.

He was preceded in death by his wife Cara (Hutchinson), father and mother Kenneth and Margaret, and sisters Patty (Don) McIntyre and Hope Malnack.

A celebration of life will take place at 9:30 am, Saturday, September 13th, 2025, at The Vine Methodist Church in Scottsbluff. Graveside will follow at Fairview Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family asks to please donate to: Tom and Cara Perkins Memorial Scholarship at WNCC Foundation.

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