Kenneth J. Perry

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Kenneth J. Perry, a former Toledo police officer, Lucas County sheriff's chief deputy – and briefly sheriff – and president of the Toledo Board of Education, died Wednesday in Otterbein Sunset Village, Sylvania Township. He was 81.

He had Parkinson's disease the last decade, and was in declining health since early August, said his wife, Jeanine Perry, a former Lucas County recorder, Ohio state representative, and member of Toledo City Council. Longtime residents of Point Place, they lived most recently in Sylvania Township.

Mr. Perry retired in 2010 from the sheriff's office, where he was chief deputy for administrative services. He was appointed to that role in January, 1985, by then-new Sheriff James Telb.

"When I was teaching at the [University of Toledo], he was one of my students, and we became friends," said Mr. Telb, who was sheriff until January, 2013. "He got along with everybody, and he was smart, and he had a way with people.

"He took care of the finances, and he knew how to deal with budgets, and he was a political guy too," he said. "If the sheriff's office had an issue with the schools or county government, Mr. Perry, with his connections, knew how to get them resolved, Mr. Telb added.

"He was easy going and wherever we went, he always knew somebody," Mr. Telb said. "And they were very cordial and showed that they cared – 'You're still helping the sheriff, I see.'"

Mr. Perry was sworn in as sheriff in September, 2000, after Mr. Telb retired in order to avoid a change in state pension rules that would have cost him upwards of $40,000 annually. Mr. Telb ran unopposed and was re-elected that November. He was sworn in shortly afterward, at the suggestion of Mr. Perry, who told county commissioners that labor negotiations and other ongoing issues would be better dealt with if Mr. Telb were returned to office.

In Mr. Perry's chief deputy role, "he didn't forget where he came from," said former Sheriff John Tharp, who was a new Toledo police patrol officer in 1972 when he met Mr. Perry, who joined the force five years earlier.

"He understood what it was like to be in the trenches and knowing what needed to be done and doing the best he could for others," said Mr. Tharp, who was sheriff for eight years until January, 2021.

"He was a religious man and was dedicated to the community and his coworkers," said Mr. Tharp, who after his nearly 25-year Toledo police career, was hired to Sheriff Telb's administrative staff and became a major.

Mr. Perry joined the Toledo police force after service in the Army and work at what is now the General Motors Toledo Transmission plant on Alexis Road.

He began on patrol duty, most shifts riding along with William Miscannon, who was slain in the line of duty on Sept. 18, 1970. Mr. Perry served as president of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association from 1973-77.

His police assignments included instructor of ethics and patrol technology, among other subjects, at the police academy. He also taught at Owens Community College and the UT Community and Technical College. While in Toledo police community relations for four years, he got to know Toledo Public Schools.

"I was in contact with a lot of teachers and students, and I knew even then there were a lot of good things going on in the schools," Mr. Perry told The Blade in 1984, as he began his first stint as Toledo school board president. He said that running for school board in 1981 was an outgrowth of that and of his growing involvement in politics and community.

"I was always active. I always voted, even absentee when I was in the Army in France," Mr. Perry said then.

He served as board president three times - in 1984, 1989, and 1990. He was especially proud to have been on the board when it appointed the first woman to serve as superintendent, Ruth Scott, and the first African American to serve as superintendent, Crystal Ellis, his wife said.

"Ken always liked bringing people together. That's what he was about in every position he ever held," Mrs. Perry said. "Ken was driven by his faith and by the rule of law. Those were his guiding principles. Mostly it was to be honest and open and work hard and be inclusive, to listen and include the community."

He did not seek re-election in 1991. A Democrat, Mr. Perry ran unsuccessfully for Toledo Municipal Clerk of Court in 1995.

He was born June 7, 1941, to Ora and Irv Perry and grew up at Michigan and Mulberry streets in North Toledo. He was a 1959 graduate of Central Catholic High School. He had associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees from UT.

Surviving are his wife, the former Jeanine Hickman, whom he married Sept. 2, 1967; son, Doug Perry; daughter Joan Perry Szafarowicz, and two grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home. A funeral Mass will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at Holy Trinity Church at Assumption in Fulton County's Amboy Township, where he was a member. The family will greet guests at church starting at 10 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to the Catholic Club of Toledo, the Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association, or the Police Athletic League.