He prepared at Lawrenceville and joined Quadrangle Club at Princeton. His studies were interrupted by service as a navigator with the 13th Army Air Force, which saw combat in the Pacific theater. He returned to Princeton to earn a degree in English in 1947. He also took graduate courses in geology and analyzed geological formations in the oil and uranium fields in Utah, Wyoming, and Oklahoma.
This experience enhanced his career as a mineral investment expert at the Empire Bank of New York and at the Swenson Land and Cattle Corp. of Stamford, Texas. From his Montclair, N.J., base he served as president of the New York Petroleum Analysts Group and then became a partner of what grew into the investment firm of Legg Mason.
Perry was an avid golfer and tennis player, pursuing those sports in New Jersey and Key Largo, Fla., where he moved in 1972. He was active in the Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair and was a trustee of Ocean Reef Chapel in Florida.
Perry married Martha Kennedy, who predeceased him. He is survived by three sons, Randolphe P. Jr. ’72, Eric K., and Peter K.; his brother, Bruce; and five grandchildren, to all of whom the class expresses its sympathy.