For 42 years, Perry practiced law in the Oklahoma City firm established by his grandfather in 1898. Earlier, he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service as an Army lieutenant wounded by machine-gun fire in the Pacific theater.
A bachelor until 1969, Perry then married Bettye. “From that point forward,” reported the obituary in The Oklahoman following his death April 28, 2014, “he transformed the lives of a single mother and three young boys and became their only real father and the light of their lives.”
Perry and Bettye traveled widely in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Their fondness for pets, with always at least one beloved pet dog at home, was well known and included their longtime companion, “Handsome Hank,” to whom they referred as “our foul-mouthed parrot.”
Perry’s father was Ben Allen Ames 1916, and his uncle was Longstreet Ames ’31. Bettye predeceased Perry. Their sons, Scott, Brett, and Mack, survive him. To all them, ’46 sends warm condolences in thanks for our classmate’s life well lived.