Ellen G. Perry

Ellen G. Perry

Ellen Gilliam Perry died Thursday, June 19, 2008, of Alzheimer's disease at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge.

Born in 1925 in Lynchburg, to Ellen McCluer Gilliam and James R. Gilliam, Mrs. Perry graduated from Sweet Briar College, where she won the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for service to others and to the community. She earned a Masters in library science from Columbia University in New York.

Preceded in death by her husband Marvin Perry Jr., she is survived by her daughters, Betsy Perry of Camden, Maine, and Margaret Perry Daniel of Atlanta, Georgia.

As a cousin said, "Ellen Perry had a unique gift for making you feel that there was no one she'd rather talk with -- that you were a very special and important person." Ellen Perry was well-known as a warm and gracious but unpre-tentious person, and many guests in her home were individuals who, in the world's eyes, were important and special. Among the individuals she and her family hosted were writers Eudora Welty and Katherine Anne Porter, opera diva Rosa Ponsell, and theologian Paul Tillich. Yet whether her guest was the prime minister of Australia or the Turkish laundry lady who couldn't pay her rent, every-one was special and important in Ellen Perry's eyes.

Mrs. Perry met her husband, then a young English instru-ctor, while she was a circu-lation librarian at Alderman Library at the University of Virginia. Married in 1950, Ellen and Marvin Perry enjoyed a long and happy marriage until his death in 1994. Dr. Perry became professor and English department chair at Wash-ington and Lee University, dean of Admissions at the University of Virginia, pres-ident of Goucher College, and president of Agnes Scott College. Ellen and Marvin Perry complemented each other, and together they made significant contributions to the colleges and universities they served and the commun-ities where they lived. Ellen Perry's role in her husband's career is reflected in a comment made by Walter Sondheim, then a Goucher trustee, when Dr. Perry told him he was leaving Goucher to become president of Agnes Scott College. "If you have to go, Marvin," Sondheim said, "can you leave Ellen?"

Known for her compassion and kindness, Mrs. Perry was also a very bright woman and an astute judge of character who had exceptional "people skills" and a quick wit. She was active in a wide variety of volunteer organizations, in-cluding the Board of the Metro Atlanta YWCA, the session of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and the Adoptive Grandparents program in Charlottesville public schools. In addition to her daughters, other survivors include sons-in-law, Dabney Daniel and Neale Sweet; grandchildren Nellie and Ned Sweet; a brother and sister-in-law, Bates McCluer Gilliam and Mary Stuart Gilliam of Lexington, Virginia; a brother-in-law and his wife, John Mosby Perry and Marly Perry of Chevy Chase, Maryland; nieces Catharine Gilliam, Molly McCluer and Kate Perry and their families; nephews Jay Gilliam and Alex Perry and their families; many cousins; and her long-time caregiver and friend, Mary Ethelene Brown.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 12, 2008, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, contri-butions may be made to the Ellen Perry Fund at Alderman Library of the University of Virginia or Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Friends may sign the guest book at www.hillandwood.com


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.