Arthur J. Perkins

Arthur Perkins passed peacefully at The Bradford Senior Living in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on February 20, 2026.

Art was born in Englewood, a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, on June 18, 1949.

He was the second child of Alfred and Dorothy Perkins. His father attended college and seminary to become an ordained Presbyterian minister and the family moved to New Amsterdam, Wisconsin, in 1952 where Art never forgot the rattlesnake in the front yard of the parsonage. The family later moved to Wheaton, Illinois, and then to Dale, Indiana. While living in Dale, Art became a newspaper delivery boy and was chosen to get a full scholarship to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He also attended Beloit College in Wisconsin where he wrote his senior thesis on the theology of Paul Tillich.

Art chose an independent lifestyle and moved to Chicago in 1973 where he then became a woodworker. His house was full of antique tools he used to repair furniture and windows. One memory he told was that he went to see our childhood home at 6612 S. Perry in Englewood, which had become a black neighborhood. While looking up at the attic window, he noticed that the window he had broken as a child had never been fixed. So, Art knocked on the door and asked the surprised woman if he could repair it for her. In Chicago, he was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Art became a blues harmonica player and played most nights in blues bars all over Chicago. He jammed with the Chicago Blues All Stars, Buddy Guy's Legends, B.B. King's daughter and with Freddie Dixon, the son of Willie Dixon. The blues musicians called Art "White Lightning."

Later in life, Art developed Alzheimer's Disease and moved to Michigan to be closer to family. He said his "memory was flipping out the back door."

Arthur was predeceased by his parents and younger sister, Janet, who also had Alzheimer's.

A memorial to honor Art will be take place in Chicago at a later date.