Lallah Miles Perry

Services for Lallah Miles Perry will be held today at 4 p.m. in the chapel of McClain Hays Funeral Home in Philadelphia Mississippi.
Visitation will begin in the chapel at 1 p.m. Burial will follow at Cedarlawn Cemetery.
Lallah Miles was the oldest of four children born to Rebecca and Dr. Lee Ellis Miles in Auburn Alabama in 1926. Lallah married James Lafayette (Dick) Perry of Philadelphia in December 1943 and moved with him to Philadelphia when he returned from the South Pacific where she became actively involved in the community and found many lifelong friends.
While Dick was off at war, she continued her education at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn) graduating with a degree in Fine Arts. She began painting at age 13 with her lessons and continued painting and studying her whole life. She painted prolifically, entering competitions around the south, as well as participating in many community organizations.
At the encouragement of her friend Minnie Hand, she began teaching with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Philadelphia, which, while brief in tenure awakened in her the desire to teach the arts she loved and share with others.
She will be remembered by friends and family as a fun loving, spirited, opinionated, smart lady with a sharp sense of humor. Professionally she was always looking, studying, and exploring new work. She became the first director of the Mississippi Art Colony, was involved in the formation of the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi where she met many wonderful like minded friends.
After a career spanning more than 50 years, Lallah was awarded the 2008 Governor's Award for Artistic Excellence in acknowledgement of her talent and her contributions to the Arts.
Lallah was preceded in death by her husband, James Lafayette (Dick) Perry; her parents; two brothers, Charles and Robert.
She is survived by her children, Elizabeth (Pippa), Margaret, Pete, and Richard; grandchildren, Jim Perry and wife, Jordan, Rebecca Posey and husband, Ruan, Chad and Tim Schwarzauer, Neil and Abby Perry; her sister, Maya McConnell; and sisters-in-law, Patricia Perry and Doris Perry along with a number of nieces and nephews and wonderful friends.
Her nephews will serve as pallbearers.
The family would appreciate a donation to a favorite charity, or to the Community Foundation of Great Jackson (525 East Capitol Street, Jackson MS 39201) in Lallah's name, where the family has established a fund to provide grants and scholarship in the arts to celebrate her life.