Forrest A Perry

Forrest Allen Perry, the son of John and Rachel (Farley) Perry, was born October 11, 1953, in Dodge City, Kansas, and departed this life at his home in McAllen, Texas, on February 18, 2024, at the age of seventy.

He attended schools in Wellsville, Kansas, and Eldora, Iowa, before he entered and graduated from Hamburg (Iowa) High School in 1971. After graduating from high school, he spent time in Colombia, serving in a missions program of the Assemblies of God. He attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1975.

When he was a young boy, Forrest trusted in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. He enjoyed sharing his love for Jesus with children, and he was a teacher in Christian schools for many years in Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Massachusetts, and Texas. After he moved to South Texas in the early 1990s, he became part of the McAllen First Assembly of God, where he served as a preschool Sunday school teacher for many years. He married Judy Mitchell on June 26, 1999, and they ministered together in the BGMC ministry there.

Forrest blessed many people with three gifts God had graciously given him. He excelled at baking cakes, and many family members and friends were able to serve their wedding guests the delicious cakes he made for them. He was a server at many restaurants for many years, and his welcoming smile and contagious humor earned kudos from many, many customers. And his antics as Tom Bomb the clown—creating animal balloons, riding his unicycle, and standing on his head while he said the alphabet backward—brought smiles and laughter to children of all ages at birthday parties and other social events.

In the last decade Forrest’s health began to decline. After having surgery for colon cancer and quadruple bypass heart surgery, he developed neuropathy in his feet and legs. His health took a sharp turn for the worse in January, and he went home to be with Jesus in heaven as he slept in the early morning of February 18.

Forrest is survived by his wife, Judy Perry, of McAllen; his son, Phil (Barb) Perry, of Sheridan, Wyoming; three grandsons and two granddaughters; his sister, Sharon (Kenneth) Holmgren, of St. Paul, Minnesota; two nephews and one niece, and nine great-nieces and one great-nephew. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Rachel Perry, and his brother, Roy Perry