James N. Perry

James N. Perry of Dacula, Georgia passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon, December 31, 2013. He was 80 years old. He leaves his wife of nearly 30 years, Barbara F. Perry of Dacula, daughter Jane Perry of Santa Fe, New Mexico, son Bob Perry of Waltham, Massachusetts, daughter Amy Blackman of Nashville, Tennessee, granddaughter Ruby Blackman also of Nashville, step-children Cara, Neal, and Noelle Guri, and step-grandchildren Charlie and Stella Guri, and Adrian Remington. Jim Perry was born in 1933 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to parents Stewart and Alice Perry of Winthrop, where he lived his entire childhood. He served briefly in the U.S. Air Force after graduating an Electrical Engineer from Cornell University in 1955. After his 1959 honorable Air Force discharge Jim embarked on a 40 year career in manufacturing management that began at a company called "Microwave" in New Hampshire and ended at Lockheed-Martin in Silicon Valley. At the vanguard of what we now call "globalization," his four decades at work took him from New Hampshire to Massachusetts to California to Hong Kong, Okinawa, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines, then to Connecticut, Tennessee, and back to California, meeting a couple of "interesting" sitting heads-of-state along the way (Ferdinand Marcos and Park Chung Hee). - He saw the world, including the Pyramids, the Acropolis, the Great Wall, the Great Barrier Reef, Angkor Wat, and the Taj Mahal. Jim retired in 1999 to become whom he jokingly referred to himself as: "Mr. Margaret Thatcher," supporting Barbara's two-year professional assignment in the UK. A highlight of that experience for Jim was befriending a former World War II British fighter pilot who owned a private plane in which they would fly over the Cliffs of Dover and on to France for lunch! A committed professional for his entire career, he took his retirement just as seriously. He spent the last nearly decade and a half of his life focused on tending conscientiously and lovingly to all the important relationships in his life: with his wife, children, grandchildren, and more distant relatives, with his friends, with his body, and with God. Jim Perry was at various points in his life--among other things--an Eagle Scout, an actor (peaking as a well-reviewed George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), an athlete (a runner who completed the San Francisco Marathon, declaring afterwards that, as far as he was concerned, one marathon was enough!), a walker (a speed-walker for a time, much to the entertainment of those who were lucky enough to see him do it!), a hiker, (including at age 77 scaling New Hampshire's Mount Chocorua with his children), a golfer, a tennis player, a skier (water, downhill, and cross-country), a sailor, a scuba diver, a pilot (of jets in the Air Force, and gliders in the 1980's - for which he also qualified and moonlighted as an instructor), a public servant (Town Meeting Member), a business leader (Chamber of Commerce President), and a Swedenborgian Christian. - Most recently, "Mr. Jim" very much enjoyed being a regular in the Very Important Parent (VIP) room at Adrian's school, volunteering as head of the Tuesday group each week, helping teachers and staff members with tasks ranging from laminating to creating special projects for students. Finally, Jim was a very sentimental man. He was moved by music (of all kinds, but Sinatra tops the list!), by performance, by history (the more personal, the better), and by relationships. A gifted raconteur, he was what one might call an "occasionist" - so good at elevating celebrations of all kinds, and especially at marking personal milestones. He always managed to find ways to sprinkle a little emotional stardust over people at the important events of their lives by sharing memories and pointing out in often surprising ways the good that others have done, and the impact and difference they've made in the world, always well-supported by humorous, pithy, and poignant stories and images and songs. A talented man, it was those tailored, personal gifts to others that may have been his greatest gift of all. A celebration of Jim's life will be held in the Boston area in the springtime, arrangements to be completed in the coming months. Donations in Jim's memory may be made to the Swedenborgian family church camp in Maine that he loved and attended most summers from 1947 through 2013: Fryeburg New Church Assembly, c/o 61 Clark Lane, Waltham, MA 02451.