In the wake of Perkins’ death Feb. 9 to cancer at the age of 76, only a handful of teachers and support staff may realize that their school would not exist today if not for the leadership and efforts of dedicated people like him and key figures such as Maury and Mary Stark, C. Richard Stark, Jim Bocken, Leo Crimmins, Jill Lawler, Tom Schnurr, the Rev. Patrick Walsh and others.

“Among the many amazing things John accomplished in his life was leading a long-range strategic plan that saved St. Edmond from closure in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” said Tom Miklo, former development director, referring to the time in 1988 when St. Edmond was facing enrollment losses and severe financial issues.

“A long-range plan was called for, but finding someone to lead it was an issue. Then John stepped up and said he would lead it, but it had to be done professionally and properly. A company was hired and John spent countless hours over the next three to four years leading a multitude of changes and advancements for the school system. He recruited hundreds of other volunteers and led the system to hire a business manager and unite the elementary and high school boards of education, consolidate the schools finances and also begin a development program. John recruited me early in the process to serve on our marketing committee, which led to a stint on the school board and ultimately the position of development director. Many people were involved, but John was the leader and the lynchpin. All of us who love the school owe him so much.”

Monsignor Kevin McCoy, president of St. Edmond Catholic School and pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, said that when he arrived in Fort Dodge in 2008, “I had the privilege of witnessing the quiet, calm, steady voice of John Perkins offering focus and resolve in the face of this situation.  He wasn’t one to panic; he planned and plotted avenues through a tumultuous time assuring fiscal stability for the school he fondly called, alma mater.  And, as I recall, he also enjoyed one of Mary Stark’s homemade chocolate chip cookies that she brought to most every meeting.  He will be, and is, truly missed.”

John Muir Perkins, a Fort Dodge attorney for 43 years, died in hospice care at Kavanagh House in Des Moines just three weeks after his cancer was discovered and exactly a month after his son John Stanley had died of cancer.

The family will host a celebration of his life from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, at Allora Cafe, 1459 Grand Ave, Krause Gateway Center, in Des Moines – the city where Perkins and his wife Judy moved in 2018 after he retired from his law practice

Perkins bled St. Edmond Kelly green and white through and through. He and his brother Bill and sister Barbara were St. Edmond graduates — John in 1967, Bill in 1970, Barbara in 1971. John and Judy’s three children were St. Edmond graduates — John in 1996, Jennifer in 1998 and Jeff in 2001. Perkins served as president of the school board, and in that role, presented daughter Jennifer with her diploma when she graduated.

Perkins and his daughter were among the finest basketball players in St. Edmond school history.

A 6-foot-4 center who could easily dunk the ball, Perkins held the boys scoring record (1,067 points) from 1967 until 2004; he now ranks seventh all-time. Jennifer, a 6-foot-1 center, held the girls record (1,227 points) from 1998 until 2011, ranking second all-time, and remains the school’s rebounding leader.

She surpassed her dad for the overall St. Edmond record — boys or girls –during her senior season in January 1998 in a home game against Iowa Falls and recalls how he was the only one in the stands who jumped to his feet to give her a standing ovation.

“It was probably on the easiest basket I had all night,” she said, “and no one else really in the gym knew about it since it was a girls’ game and the boys’ record, but that was a special moment for us.”

John Perkins won a basketball scholarship to Loyola University Chicago and played as a freshman, before joining the Ramblers’ track and field team, throwing the discus and shot put for the next three years. Jennifer earned a basketball scholarship to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri., and played four years. John and Judy only missed a handful of games during her varsity career even though home games involved a round trip of eight hours.

The origin of the “5JPs” (a family term for John, Judy, John, Jennifer, and Jeff Perkins) came in Chicago when, in Judy’s words, “two college students met on the Lakeshore campus of Loyola University through a mutual friend. The girl was from the south side of Chicago and the fella was from Fort Dodge, Iowa. Dated through college and got married at St. Barnabas Catholic Church on Chicago’s south side just before John started law school at Drake University in August of 1972.”

After Perkins completed law school at Drake, the couple moved in 1975 to Fort Dodge where he started his law practice with Mitchell, Murray & Blackburn, moved to Mitchell, Coleman, Perkins & Enke and eventually started his own firm — Perkins Law Office. He specialized in wills, trusts, estate administration and succession planning.

Judy worked at Younkers in Des Moines as a buyer while John was in law school and when they moved to Fort Dodge she became Younkers store manager. She later worked at Iowa Central Community College as program coordinator for its fashion merchandising program and in various other leadership positions with the college. She then worked for Aramark Managed Services as consultant for employee and patient satisfaction across the country before retiring in 2014.

They started their family in 1977 with the birth of John Stanley — named in honor of both of their fathers — Jack (John) Perkins and Stanley Ruzich. Two years later, Jennifer was born – her name one that Judy liked. And in 1983, their third child arrived.

“We knew it was a boy,” Judy said. “Big question — do we continue with the J names or pick something like Mathew or Christopher. I had this dilemma because my siblings were Gerry, Judy, Jan and Sue! I immediately called Sue and asked for her advice. She said ‘don’t do it — the kid will think he’s an outlier … hence Jeffrey Muir (grandmother’s maiden name & John the father’s middle name.) The 5JPs were established!”

John Stanley Perkins operated his own company in IT and coding in California after graduating from Iowa State University in Ames. He died Jan. 9 after enduring more than three years of the ravages wrought by pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He was 48, lived in Culver City, California., and was married to Nicholas Grippando.

Jeff shared in a touching family obituary for his father how John Stanley “navigated coming out as gay back in the 1990s, when coming out could far too often result in family estrangement or worse. He shared his truth with his mother back then, days before he had the opportunity to tell his father. John the father sat his son down upon learning this and told John the younger how hurt he was and how he felt the weight of having failed as a father. John the father didn’t feel hurt or depressed to have a gay son. Instead, he summed up his pain and sense of shortcoming as ‘it meant I didn’t make you feel safe enough and loved enough to want to share such an important part of your life with me sooner.'”

Jennifer Perkins Wyland lives in West Des Moines with her husband Jimmy and their twins Jimmy III and Jacklynn, who will be 4 in April. She has worked in management in health care or manufacturing for more than 20 years. After graduating from Truman State, she earned an MBA from St. Ambrose University where she was an assistant women’s basketball coach while studying there.

Jeff followed in his father’s career footsteps. After graduating from DePaul University in Chicago, he stayed in Chicago, operating a small business for nearly 10 years before deciding to attend Drake Law School. He practices in Illinois and Iowa in the same area of law as his father and he also named his practice Perkins Law Office — based in Chicago, where he and his life partner Marie Snyder live. The two are co-founders, directors, coaches, and mentors of a cycling program for Chicago youth.

“Dad had countless wise tidbits to share along the way,” Jeff said, “and could have shared infinitely more given the opportunity. Dad never imposed his mentorship, yet he was always available to lend an attentive ear and share his invaluable insight gained from over 40 years in the profession. We had a celebratory dinner the day the bar exam results came out.”

John, his brother Bill and sister Barbara were the children of Jack and Georgie Perkins. Their father, who was 6-feet-5, met their mother in Detroit where he worked at Ford Motor Co. and she at Michigan Bell. This after his four years of Army service during World War II. They married in 1947 and moved to Fort Dodge. Jack’s father Frank had moved to Fort Dodge a decade earlier and worked at Hormel and Jack’s older brother Bob had moved there as well to work at Fort Dodge Laboratories. Jack Perkins started off by selling meat cuts to grocery stores. He met Cyril Bodensteiner, owner of Fort Dodge Byproducts, and was hired into the company, later becoming its treasurer until retiring.

Bill Perkins, tallest of the three siblings at 6-feet-7, died in 2020 of a heart attack, at 69. He played football at St. Edmond and was a Golden Gloves boxer and later was a business owner in Kansas City, Kansas. He had one daughter, Sarah Catherine Perkins Jones.

Barbara Perkins Fry worked for a printing and publishing company while living in St. Paul, Minnesota., and now lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina., Her son Chad Peterson lives in Seattle and her daughter Trisha Fry lives in Minneapolis.

Barbara Perkins Fry said her brother John’s civic mindedness was largely due to their mother’s influence.

“While her main goal after she and my father were married was to have a family, and she never worked out of the home, she was very involved in community life,” Fry said. “While dad provided the security of a home, mom filled it with her love and energy. They were a great pair. She was a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader. She participated in every festival while we were in grade school and was there for whatever and whenever we needed something in high school. She also volunteered with Catholic Charities and Mercy Hospital. 

“As we got older she became more political and was the president of the local League of Women’s Voters and worked very hard to get the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratified in Iowa (3/24/1972). And somewhere along the line she chaired a council that successfully adopted Home Rule as the new government structure of Fort Dodge.”

It was their mother’s convertible that was used in the downtown parade when John F. Kennedy came to Fort Dodge during his 1960 presidential campaign.

“At the airport,” Fry said, “mom held Kennedy’s doughnut while he signed her hat! Of course, dad was a Republican and he was not thrilled about the use of the car. He did convert later in life.”

Jennifer Perkins Wyland also had a car-related story to tell – from back when she was 16 and among four drivers in the Perkins household who competed for access to a limited number of cars. She found one, a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron, and went with her dad to pick it up.

“The owner liked the car and talked about the service records of it,” she said. “My dad encouraged him to talk about it and really asked questions about the car.  Now, being 16 and just wanting my car, I was not impressed at all.  We were there in the man’s garage with the hood open for almost 90 minutes while the gentlemen went on and on about the car.  I was annoyed and just wanted to go.  When we finally got in the car to drive home, I asked my dad, ‘What do you know about cars?’  He replied, ‘Nothing, but wasn’t it neat to see the pride and joy this gentleman took in caring for this car?’ 

“While I have to say, it didn’t endear me at the time, now it amazes me to see the pride my dad took in letting others really shine.  He listens to engage, not speak over, and to understand.”

One of Perkins’ best friends was Bill Sheridan. They met in 1977 when Sheridan went into the insurance and investment business after teaching English/Speech at St. Edmond for 10 years. Perkins had just begun his practice as an attorney.

“From a business standpoint, it was mutually beneficial,” Sheridan said. “He was able to refer me to clients who were prospects for my products, and I sent folks to him who needed wills or other legal matters. But more importantly than that, we became fast friends.

“We would meet for lunch, usually at Zakeers, once or twice a month for many years. John is probably the most intelligent friend I’ve ever had, but also the least punctual. I learned to set a time for us to gather at his office or mine, but learned to add a minimum of 15 minutes before I would actually see him. He was an avid reader. I don’t ever recall leaving a luncheon, not feeling smarter than when we began. John was always curious and truly a life-long learner. And not just about his profession.”

John Perkins’ name will forever be tied to St. Edmond.

“He had the ability to look beyond immediate challenges and focus on what would sustain St. Edmond for generations to come,” said Susan Laufersweiler, who succeeded Miklo as development director. “Because of his forward-thinking vision and commitment to Catholic education, our school continues to stand strong today.”