Martha A. Perry

Des Moines, Iowa

Martha Anne Perry, 65, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at Mercy Medical Center. On what would have been her 66th birthday, July 26, 2013, the family will have a short visitation 12:00-12:30 at McLaren’s Chapel and a graveside service at 12:30 at Resthaven Cemetery located at 801 - 19th Street, West Des Moines, Iowa. Immediately following that, the family will be hosting a Memorial Luncheon celebrating Martha’s life at a local West Des Moines restaurant. The family wishes to extend an invitation to all Martha's loved ones and friends to join us for the celebration of her life and honor her memory. Additionally, the family has made arrangements for a memorial bench to be installed on the West Side of Meredith Hall (Journalism Department’s main building) on the Drake University Campus located at 2507 University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311. The bench will have the following plaque installed: “In memory of Martha A Casady-Perry, JO’78, KTA,- July 26, 1947 – May 22, 2013 - Beloved Mother and Grandmother”.

Martha was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 and lived her whole life there. Some of the happiest moments in her life included the birth of her children son Richard Perry, Jr. (1966) & daughter Jolene Perry (1968) and when she graduated with Honors from Drake University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Minor in Photography in 1978.

Martha worked nearly 2 decades for the State of Iowa in numerous departments most notably would have been her time spent working as an editor for the Iowa Department of Public Health. Prior to that she worked for other Iowa Companies like Job Service for Iowa, Iowa Power, Kidney Foundation of Iowa, and Fon Publishing. She began her career alongside her parents doing bookkeeping at Lozier Florist in Des Moines from 1963 – 1968.

Over the years, Martha wrote and edited thousands of publications for the companies she worked with or for. Some of the publications included the Des Moines Magazine, Downtowner, Des Moines Doings, Drake University newspaper, Des Moines Area Community College articles, Ankeny Press Citizen and KSO Radio. She was also an avid photographer and contributed her works to many of the publications she worked for or with.

Martha is survived by her daughter, Jolene (Jim Weigel) Perry of Grimes, Iowa; son, Richard (Naomi Shisaike) Perry, Jr. of Cupertino, CA; one granddaughter, Nene Perry Shisaike; and two sisters, Marilyn (Frank) Catalano of Mesa, Arizona and Mary (Ken) Ptak of West Palm Beach, Florida. She was preceded in death by her parents, Violet and Harold Casady.