Charles Richard Perry

Charles was born at home Dec. 30, 1927, to Mary Bach Perry, a Santa Paula native, and Wearn Ivey Perry, originally from Butte, Mont. He was the second of three children. The eldest was the late Wearn Jr., and the youngest, born when Charles was 18, is his sister Carol Perry Avery of Thousand Oaks.

Throughout his youth he was a happy, but feisty boy who loved pranks, one of which may have involved his best friend whose father had a car with a spotlight and maybe they cruised to the spot where high school lovebirds would neck in their cars, and maybe the friends shone that light in the cars, just to give the couples a little surprise.

He attended Mupu School, Santa Paula High School, Ventura College, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

During high school summers he worked in the citrus orchards when the pickers were away fighting in WWII. He could pick 80 boxes of fruit a day at 40 cents per 80 lb. box, and ultimately earned about $250 (the equivalent of $4,200 in 2023). He also helped pick lemons on the Kimura Family farm after the family was sent to a Japanese internment camp. Charles’ Uncle Charlie Bach tended the farm in their absence. When they returned to Santa Paula, the Kimuras were able to pick up where they left off.

At Santa Paula High School he was in the Future Farmers of America and ran track, graduating in 1946. He attended Ventura College and graduated in 1948. During the Korean War, he served in the Army from 1949-1952 as a mechanic in Germany. He then attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on the G.I. Bill and majored in agricultural engineering. In 1955, he married Anne Burns, whom he had known since high school, and he then graduated from Cal Poly in 1956.

From 1956 to 1960, he worked at Rancho Sierra Vista in the Santa Monica Mountains which is now part of the National Park System. It was a job he spoke of with great fondness. He enjoyed the work, the owner Richard Danielson, and the 10,000-acres of open space. He cared for the animals, crops, and machinery, and became adept at welding, plumbing, and carpentry.

He then started a business as a mechanic in conjunction with his father’s travel trailer sales business in Santa Paula from 1960 to 2005. His father sold the trailers and Charles installed towing hitches, repaired cars, trailers, and mobile homes. He was well known among the residents of Ventura County’s mobile home parks as the man to call when you had a problem with your home.

He and Anne adopted a baby, Jill, in 1963. The couple divorced in 1970. He later asked Marian Garton to marry him and when she said no, he said he would come back the next day to see if she might change her mind. Luckily, she did. She also adopted Jill. They were together until Marian’s death in 1986. The little family of three took vacations with their travel trailer to the beach and the High Sierras, hosted 4th of July parties (oh, how he loved to put on a fireworks show on the patio), and raised 36 ducks in their backyard because one pair of Easter ducklings made more.

Throughout his life he was grateful for his family, friends, pets, and his acre of land with its orchard, garden, and flowers. He was known for leaving surprise packages of fruits and vegetables on friends’ porches. He enjoyed fishing, cooking, and making people laugh.

He considered Santa Paula “God’s country,” and rarely strayed from its citrus orchards, valleys, and surrounding mountains. Though he did make a few memorable trips to Hawaii, Utah, and New Hampshire.

The stages of his life were signposted by the animals he owned. “Charles had a great love for two- and four-footed creatures having kept many kinds of animals and rehabilitating some wild ones,” said long-time friend Carol Day. Since childhood he owned dogs, cats, chameleons, peacocks, sheep, ducks, chickens, cows, horses, chipmunks, rabbits, a fox, a hawk, and a Catalina goat.

He was an honest, loyal, kind, hard working, and generous man who went out of his way to help friends and family. He was the kind of man who saw a car go over the cliff on Dennison Grade in Upper Ojai, parked, and ran down the steep cliffside to make sure the car’s occupants survived the plunge. He then disconnected wiring under the hood because the car threatened to spark a fire.

He was also the kind of man who tended a garden for dear family friends who didn’t have the mobility or expertise to do it themselves. He planted, weeded, watered, and harvested their garden for them for many years.

The founding president of Santa Paula’s Thomas Aquinas College, the late Dr. Ron McArthur, once said “Charles is one of the kindest and most thoughtful human beings I have ever met in my long life.”

He is survived by his sister Carol, daughter Jill (Daryl Teshima) of Rancho Palos Verdes, grandchildren Megan and Evan Teshima, and friend Frances Nevarez of Santa Paula. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, and wife.

A private family memorial is being planned.

In his honor, please give your dog a belly rub, give your cat a nuzzle, plant vegetables or a fruit tree, and appreciate your family and your surroundings.