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The Rev. James E. Perry, 92, a retired Elder, died Feb. 11, 2012, at his son’s home in Linthicum. His charge church was Centenary UMC in Shady Side. There was no memorial service at his request.

He was born in Bethpage, Tenn., to farmers, James and Volney Perry.  He attended what was then Martin Junior College and received his Bachelors Degree from Butler University in Indianapolis. He was ordained an Elder in Baltimore Conference in 1949.

Perry came from a fresh D. Min degree from Boston University to the Baltimore-Washington Conference in 1947 and served at Lanham until 1951 when he became a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force.  He returned in 1955 and was appointed to Shady Side. In 1959 he was appointed to La Vale, where he served until 1964 when he went to Brooklyn. His next appointment was to Baldwin Memorial UMC in Millersville, from which he retired in 1971.

For 23 years following his chaplaincy, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves, where he served as chaplain for the Eastern Region, taking two weeks from his pastorates to go on active duty in Colorado. He retired in 1980.

He and Marjorie Lemaire Perry were married in 1946; she died in 2010, after 64 years of marriage. His ashes were interred next to hers in Mt. Vernon, Tenn., “where he wanted to be,” said his son Bray Perry.

Survivors include three sons, Bray Perry from Linthicum; and twins Mark Perry of York, Pa., and Vlaine Perry of Odenton; and three grandchildren.

Condolences may be sent to Bray Perry, 201 Valley Road, Linthicum, MD 21090.