John Hunter Perkins

CLAXTON: USAF Major (retired)John H. Perkins passed away at the Navicent Health Facility in Milledgeville, Georgia on August 9th, 2020. He had been a resident of the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville, Georgia for several years.
He was born October of 1932, in Claxton, Georgia to Mary and Zeke Perkins and had a younger brother (Sheppard Perkins, deceased). He attended Massey School in Savannah, Georgia and attended high school at Claxton High School, where he played both football and baseball. He was selected as a team member for the south team in the 1950 high school all star game. After high school he signed to play football at the University of Georgia under head coach Wallace Butts from 1951 to 1954 (earning his football letter in 1953) and he also played baseball at Georgia where his team won 2 SEC championships (1953 & 1954 earning letters both years). While at Georgia, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and in the Air Force ROTC program. He earned his degree in animal husbandry from UGA and a commission in the US Air Force. While in the Air Force, he played armed services baseball for Hunter AFB in Savannah, Georgia (now Hunter Army Airfield) and won numerous base championships in bowling & squash. Over the course of his Air Force career as a communications officer, he served with distinction in Alaska, Turkey, Viet Nam (where he was assigned to a command in the newly formed 485th GEEIA) & ended his military career at Hickam Air force Base Hawaii, retiring at the rank of major.
After his military career he earned his nursing degree from Armstrong State University in Savannah and worked in the nursing field at Memorial Medical Center then moved to the field of Bio Medical Engineering at Memorial Medical Center. While at Memorial he served as the Biomedical Engineering Dept. Director as well as Director of Telecommunications. He retired from Memorial in 1998. He was a Sunday school teacher in Claxton and a member of the First Baptist Church of Reidsville, GA.
SURVIVORS: Maj. Perkins is survived by his wife of 56 years, Peggy Perkins; two sons, David Perkins and Larry Perkins; he is also survived by his grandchildren, Ezekiel, Tristan, Johnathan and Joshua; sister-in-law, Marlene Perkins; a niece and nephew, Malia and Shane; and several cousins.
VISITATION: Thursday, August 13, 2020, 10-11:00 a.m., at J. Mellie NeSmith Funeral Home.
FUNERAL: Thursday, August 13, 2020, 11:00 a.m., at J. Mellie NeSmith Funeral Home Chapel.
BURIAL: Brewton Cemetery, Hagan, GA.
REMEMBRANCE: BrightFocus Foundation (for Alzheimer’s disease) info@brightfocus.org , or Bright Focus Foundation, 22512 Gateway Center Dr., Clarksburg, MD 20871; or Vietnam Veterans Association, Chapter 981, C/O Charles Branch, 454 Vasco Johnson Rd., Baxley, GA., 31513.

Mellie NeSmith Funeral Home in charge of arrangements
“Our Family Serving Your Family”
“Since 1917”
(912) 739-3338
www.nesmithfuneralhome.com


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