Adele R (Hacker) Perkins

ADELE PERKINS

(February 7, 1945-August 13, 2021)

Adele “Perky” Perkins, 76, was born in Hamilton, Ohio on February 7, 1945 to Charles and Katherine Hacker, and an older brother, Lozia Smith, and sister, Ruby Charlene. Adele’s parents and siblings preceded her in death. A family tragedy sent her to the Ohio Soldiers & Sailors Orphanage in Xenia, Ohio in 1955.  After graduating from the OSSO Wilson High School, she went on to become a Licensed Practical Nurse, working in burn units at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

A driving course in Columbus led her to an OSU student and driving instructor, John Perkins. In 1968, she married John at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Canton, Ohio. John spent 47 years replacing the brakes frequently on every car they owned and teasing her that her foot was superglued to the brake pedal. After sharing the ups and downs of marriage, my mom’s opinion was that husbands were “too much work without enough benefits,” but she also said, “your father is a work-in-progress.” John preceded her in death after a stroke, passed in home hospice on July 23, 2015, and was missed by Adele. They are survived by two children, a daughter, Brooke Perkins, and an estranged son, Timothy Perkins, and both shared a loving parental relationship with Chris Simones. Adele loved her pupsters and spoiled them everyday. She was excited to see the fur-babies who preceded her in death. She is survived by her children and three grandchildren, TJ, Tanner, and Addie Perkins. She gave love generously to her children and grandchildren. She was an exceptional mom that always gave her kids a soft place to fall in hardships, a fantastic meal with baked goods, and kindness that was without limits.

Adele found her niche as a nurse in critical care and worked in the PACU recovery room at Aultman Hospital for 43 years. She shared many laughs with nurses in the PACU and missed them dearly after retiring in 2009. My mom met two of her closest friends, Nancy Merryman and June Johnson, as a nurse and the trio shared many of the joys of life, love, laugher, and families. She cherished the lunches, phone calls filled with laughter, and reconnection with Nancy and June deeply in the last years of her life.

One of the few advantages of dying from Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, recurrent that metastasized to the scapula, lung and throat, is that you don’t have to ask someone to write your own obituary--you hand your favorite four color Bic pen to your daughter and she knows to do it with “panache”.

Blessed with a wicked sense of humor and sayings that made everyone giggle, she always put other people first and gave generously to those in her life.  Adele spent the last years of her life with her beloved daughter who was also her best-friend. The two shared a love of reading, bookstores, thrifting at Goodwill, garage sales, shopping on Poshmark, collecting fine handbags, and watching The Bold & the Beautiful, Judge Judy and QVC.

On August 13, 2021, Adele spent her last day with Pepper snuggled by her side and her daughter played her favorite music by Carly Simon, Andy Gibb, Aretha Franklin, and Beth Manley. She listened to her favorite court shows. She passed peacefully in home hospice knowing she was loved deeply and blessed by God.

Adele firmly believed reading the ending of a book first was just wrong, but her daughter is a known page-jumper. Thanks to her daughter, she knew the ending to the last Kristen Hannah book, Winter Garden, she had yet to finish.

Until Pepper and I meet you again in Heaven, I will miss you everyday mom and cherish everything you taught me. I love you. I know you are in your dream kitchen giving dad the Thunder and cooking something wonder. I’m sure dad has fresh brakes on your beloved Toyota wagon named, Hannah.

Rest in peace.

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