- Date Of Birth: October 3, 1921
- Date Of Death: August 2, 2014
- State: Maine
Richard (Perk) Erlon Perkins, 92, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep with a big smile on his face on August 2, 2014. His family believes that his beloved wife Florence must have come to tell him that it was time for them to be together again. Richard was born in Burnham Junction in 1921, the son of Luther Clayton Perkins and Hazel Angeline Taylor Perkins. After his mother’s early death, when he was seven years old, he and his two brothers lived with their grandmother and grew up in Augusta, where he was active in the Boy Scouts. He also built his first radio, learned Morse code, and started on the road to being a ham radio operator. He graduated from Cony High School in 1939. After graduating from Gates Business College, Richard moved to Washington, D.C. , working for the government as a typist. In 1942, the Army was recruiting high speed radio operators and Richard volunteered. He spoke most often of his time on Saipan and in Pearl City, Honolulu. On June 23, 1946, Richard married Florence Hilda Pierce. They moved to the “trailer colony” at the University of Maine, Orono. In 1949 he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. During his career with Sylvania as a Product Development Engineer, Richard was awarded six patents for that company. He travelled for the company to Argentina, Brazil, and England.
