Nancy L. Perry

Nancy Little Perry died peacefully and surrounded by her family at her home in Houston on the 22nd of May 2012, at 90 years of age. She was born on the 27th of January 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Edele Palmer and Edward Stephen Little.

During the depression, the family moved to Pelham Manor in Westchester County, New York. Nancy attended Rosemary Hall, now Choate, Preparatory School and Barnard. In New York during World War II, she met the love of her life; a tall, dark and handsome Navy Lieutenant from Texas, William C. Perry. They were married on the 26th of October 1943, while he was on a short leave from the Navy.

After the war, the young couple moved to Houston, where Will became one of the most prominent lawyers in the state, and Nancy rapidly made many friends. She became a very active community volunteer. She was an avid and excellent tennis player, a golfer, a master bridge player, and a talented amateur architect.

Above all else, she was the best mother and wife in the world, and she felt that her greatest accomplishment was marrying Will Perry and rearing their three daughters, to whom she was devoted.

Nancy is preceded in death by her husband, the late Will Perry. She is survived by her three daughters, Adele Hart and her husband, Mark, Nan Nelson and her husband Foster, Mary Perry and her husband, Hank Still; her nine grandchildren, Mark Hart, III and his wife, Shannon, Mary Lipscomb and her husband, Blake, Elizabeth Hart, Amanda Ellis and her husband, Brad, Adele Nelson and her husband Scott Campbell, Perry Nelson, Will Ellis, Stephen Ellis, and Emily Ellis. Nancy is also survived by her six great grandchildren, Mark IV, James, and Mary Shannon Hart, and Foster, Logan, Wesley Ellis. She is also survived by her brothers, Edward Little, and John Little and his wife Barbara.

The family wishes to express sincere thanks for the loving devotion of Lily Hernandez, Elena Chevez, Olga Lopez, Ana Flores, and Melissa Bermudez, who cared for Nancy as though she were their own mother.

A memorial service is to be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 25th of May, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, where the Rev. Martin J. Bastian, Senior Associate Rector for Pastoral Care, is to officiate.

Prior to the service, the family will gather for a private interment at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions in memory of Nancy may be directed to St. Martins Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Rd., Houston, TX, 77056; the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York, NY, 10008-0780; or the charity of one’s choice.