Carl M. Perdue, 83, of
Hamilton, formerly of Aiken, SC and Sarasota, FL departed
this life on June 11th to join his beloved wife
of 57 years Barbara (Sixt) after living an amazing and
well-traveled life. Born in South Bound Brook, NJ on April
22, 1934 to his late parents Carl Edward and Natalie (Cichomski)
Perdue, he worked his way from pinsetter at his local
bowling alley to Chemist at American Cyanamid. He was a
life member of the ALCA (American Leather Chemists Assoc.).
Carl was a proud veteran of the U.S. Army during the Korean
Conflict.
He married his wife Barbara in
1960 and moved from NJ to Hamilton, MA where they raised
their four children. Carl retired from his career in the
Leather Industry as Vice President of Export Sales at Salem
Oil & Grease Company in 1999. His career gave him the
opportunity to travel extensively throughout the world. He
cherished his time abroad, immersed in the local culture,
learning the language, enjoying the local cuisine and
developing close friends in every continent except
Greenland. Each of his trips provided him with countless
stories that he would GLADLY share with anyone who would
listen!
A brilliant conversationalist,
he loved finding connections with new acquaintances, store
clerks, hospital staff, waiters…anyone he met. He always put
a smile on their face as he cracked a joke, shared his
knowledge of their home country, spoke their language or
simply gave them a compliment. He was a truly engaging
personality, a man with sparkling blue eyes, constant smile,
and a true friend to all who had the pleasure of knowing
him.
Carl spent much of his free
time on golf courses around the world, and loved his time in
Sarasota, FL (Palm Aire CC) and Aiken, SC (Houndslake CC)
with all his golfing buddies.
His family, however, gave him
his greatest pleasure, and those who know the Perdue family
have heard stories of their wonderful, funny, and
sports-filled family reunions. From coast to coast, these
adventures combined laughter, games, food, drink, and music
– lots of music… especially karaoke! His ever-present smile
and singing voice will be greatly missed.
The singing will continue
through the voices of his children and grandchildren whom he
loved dearly, Jacqueline P. Martin and her husband Bill of
Hamilton, Cynthia Perdue-Dolan and her husband Dennis of
Butte, MT; his son James Perdue and his wife Susan Swett of
San Diego, CA; Billy Martin and his fiancée Samantha Salfity
of Pensacola, FL, Catherine Martin of Hamilton,
Abigail, Tommy and Patrick Dolan of Butte, and Nate,
Maddy and Perrin Perdue of San Diego. He was the father of
the late American Airlines Captain Carl Perdue, Jr. formerly
of Middleton. He also leaves behind his beloved brother
Donald Perdue of PA, loving sister Naomi and her husband Tom
Olszyk of FL, as well as many nieces and nephews. He will
also miss his special cousins in TX and Spain.
The Funeral Mass will be
celebrated at The Church of St. Paul, 50 Union Street,
Hamilton, on Thursday, June 29th at 10am.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend. A short
visitation will be held Thursday at the church from 9:00 –
9:45am. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in
his name to Care Dimensions Hospice, 75 Sylvan Street, Suite
B-102, Danvers, MA 01923, or www.caredimensions.org
