Mary Louise Anderson Perkins died on December 7, 2015. She was born on December 28, 1920 in Macon, Georgia, to Ralph James and Louise Traub Anderson. Her maternal grandparents were a pioneer family of the Oklahoma Territory. Her father, Ralph James Anderson, was the manager of the Woolworth Store in Portsmouth prior to his death in 1962.
In 1947, Mary and her husband Byron A. Perkins, Jr. opened Mary Perkins, Inc. in Portsmouth, Va. Their business expanded into five locations throughout the Hampton Roads area. After 60 years in the retail business, Mary Perkins, Inc. closed in 2007.
Mary attended The College of William and Mary. She was a lifelong member of Monumental United Methodist Church where she and her husband, Byron A. Perkins, Jr., were married in June 1942.
She was predeceased by her husband, Byron A. Perkins, Jr.; her son, Michael Anderson Perkins; and sister, Catherine Jean Anderson.
Mary is survived by her son, Byron A. Perkins, III and wife, Martha; daughter-in-law, Margaret Sawyer Perkins; grandchildren: Mary Anderson Perkins; Byron A. (Bo) Perkins, IV and wife, Faith; Lea Perkins Nowak and husband, John; and Michael Anderson (Andy) Perkins, Jr.; great-grandchildren: Emily Nicole Nowak, Madelyn Rae Perkins, and Olivia Alice Perkins.
The family gives loving thanks to Mary's caregivers who were devoted to her: Mary Ann, Rose, Amanda, Diana, Rebecca, Rachel, and Nancy. We are grateful to the doctors, nurses, and the staff on the Fourth Floor Special Unit at Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth for their care, support, and kindness. Thank you to the Bon Secours Hospice for their assistance.
A funeral will be held at Monumental United Methodist Church at 11 a.m. o'clock Thursday, December 10, 2015 by the Reverend Joseph Cailles. A Celebration of Life will immediately follow in the Monumental Fellowship Hall. Interment will at 2 p.m. o'clock in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens, Suffolk.
In lieu of flowers, the family with great appreciation requests memorial contributions be made to Monumental United Methodist Church, 450 Dinwiddie Street, Portsmouth, Va. 23704. B.W. Foster Funeral Home, Portsmouth, has been entrusted with arrangements.