Larry Thomas Perry, 88, passed away on October 11, 2018, at his home in Seymour, Tennessee, surrounded by his family. He was a member of the Church of Christ in Seymour, a congregation he helped to organize and establish in the early 1980s. Officiating will be Bro. Tom Miller, minister of Seymour Church of Christ. Mr. Perry was born on July 27, 1930, in the Old 23rd District of Henry County, Tennessee. He graduated from Cottage Grove High School and answered his nation’s call for military service in the Korean War as part of the Army’s military police force guarding the Panama Canal. He served four years and was honorably discharged with the rank of corporal. Mr. Perry returned to the States and pursued a career as an electrical engineer, first attending the University of Tennessee at Martin and then finishing his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After graduation, he worked for Union Carbide in Paducah, Kentucky, and then transferred to the Tennessee Valley Authority engineering design division in Knoxville. While an engineer at TVA, Mr. Perry worked designing the electrical system and boards for nuclear power plants. Mr. Perry retired from TVA after a distinguished career in the late 1980s. In June of 1956 Mr. Perry married his one true love, Velva Lee Evans, daughter of the late Kermit and Pauline (Boyd) Evans from Paris, Tennessee. They welcomed a daughter, Dianne, in 1957. In the 1970s Mr. Perry began a research project that would become his avocation for the remainder of his life—researching the area of his birth, known as the Old 23rd District, which was seized by the federal government as part of the Land Between the Lakes reserve on Kentucky Lake. Mr. Perry published his work in the book A Pictorial History of the Old 23rd District. Mr. Perry was a guest speaker at several historical society gatherings, including most recently events hosted by the Friends of the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge. Mr.Perry was preceded in death by his brother, Milton Perry, and his parents, Thomas and Alma (Stockdale) Perry. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Velva, Seymour, TN; his daughter and son-in-law, Dianne and Mike Ledford and two grandsons, Jake and Gabe Ledford, Carrollton, GA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances be made to his beloved Old 23rd. Contributions can be made in his memory to Friends of Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge, ATTN: Old 23rd Account, 1371C Wildlife Drive, Springville, TN 38256. Graveside Services will be held on Monday, October 15, 2018 at 11:00 AM at Berry Highland South Funeral Home, 9010 E. Simpson Rd. Knoxville, Tennessee. Online condolences may be made at www.berryhighlandsouth.com
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18