Perry Loomis Jr.

Perry Loomis, Jr., 94, formerly of Chester County, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Keystone Villas in Douglassville surrounded by his local family. He was the widower of Rhea Helen (Roulstin) Loomis who passed away November 24, 2021. Born in Onondaga County, New York, he was a son of the late Perry Loomis Sr. and Mary (Grennell) Loomis, the brother of late Helen (Loomis) Leonard, and late Roy Loomis. Growing up in the Finger Lake region of Upstate New York he spent much of his time swimming, fishing, ice skating, hiking, and trapping. His early education began in a one-room schoolhouse, however in 1937 modernization arrived and he moved to a school in Marcellus, where he graduated with 39 other classmates.

Following graduation, he enlisted in the United States Navy. Shortly afterwards, the Korean War started. Perry became an electronics technician working on airplanes and learning how to fly for the Navy. That's where he got his first taste for electrical engineering, which he later studied at Syracuse University. He was always grateful that they never saw combat, as they had just switched from prop planes to jets. The pilots and crew needed to learn how to fly and maintain these new planes. During his time in the Navy, he was able to see many wonderful countries in the world, which he enjoyed enormously.

Using the GI bill, he started at Syracuse University studying electrical engineering. That was his passion, until he met Rhea. He finished most of his degree, but was enraptured by Rhea, and the rest is history. God blessed their tenderhearted union on June 8, 1957.

In the late 1950's Perry became an electrical draftsman in the General Electric Aerospace Division. His job enabled him to work on state-of-the-art projects, such as the Apollo program with NASA. Because of his responsibilities with Cape Kennedy, in 1963 he moved his family, now 5 people, to Daytona Beach, FL. Because of his hard work and integrity, Perry did well. In 1966 GE moved the family, now 6 people, to Lionville, PA in the wonderful Marchwood neighborhood. His career led him to classified missions on numerous projects on spacecrafts, and work on the International Space Station. Even with all these successes in his career, Perry rarely talked about it. More important was bringing home funny jokes from the guys in the office to share at the dinner table. They were great. He was a very humble man. After many decades of a rewarding and successful career as an electrical draftsman, he retired from GE in 1993.

Having married his soulmate, Rhea, in 1957, together they built a loving household filled with children, pets of all types, love, laughter, and God as the center. They adored each other, and the family of 6 children they now had. From 1966 – 1992 countless memories were made, and God-focused virtues were taught, and love and laughter filled his home in Marchwood. Continuing Perry's legacy are his 6 children - Greg (Debbie), Pamela (Dave), Jeff (Sherri), Steve (Katie), Julie (Andrew) and Deb; his 16 grandchildren – Rachel (Ben), Nate, Josh (Kayla), Rory, Pete (Steph), Nikki, Jackie (JC), Heather (Justin), Tyler (Christian), Crystal (Scott), Maddy, Brian, Thomas (Bailee), Steven (Christy), Lexi and Sadie; and 13+ great-grandchildren – Evie, Audrey, Alice, Viv, Willby, Esther, Timmy, Annalise, Landon, Miles, Nolan, Rylee, Kanna and two more on the way.

Being a great father was the most important thing to Perry. Family was #1! He wanted to build a family that loved and respected each other. Perry also knew how important it was to teach each of his children about God. Sunday school and church were a part of every week, but they were also an integral part of the nature of our home. Gal. 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This describes Perry's nature very well. When one of his children, or even their friends needed to talk to him, he was there, present, and offered wisdom. He was never too busy to help someone. This led him to positions of Sunday school teacher, deacon, and church board member.

While raising the family, Perry's passions of camping, fishing, and hiking were a part of every summer. He always took the family back to his roots to see his parents and relatives. A week was also spent camping somewhere new each year, making sure the interests of each of his children would be satisfied. He provided a detailed list of supplies, that all the children would have to gather to put in the trailer. Of course, it would include fishing gear and lots of food!

Perry was a man of lists and schedules. If a big decision had to be made, he would write a list of pros and cons placing values on each one. When traveling, Perry would write out an itinerary detailing each hotel, phone number, address, arrival and departure times, and any other pertinent information he felt necessary. This was something his children would joke about, however as they became parents, they did the same thing. At home, dinner time was 5:30 every night. He did not waiver with this, ever, but his children always knew when they needed to be home. He was also a life-long learner. Wherever he went, he learned about the area, and talked with the local people, finding out as much as he could.

While raising his 3 boys, Perry was very involved with the Boy Scouts. He eventually became the Scout Master of their troop, helping his sons and many others become better young men.

Architecture and home design was a great interest of Perry's. Many Sunday afternoons were spent taking the family to various open houses to see their designs. Later after his retirement he and Rhea traveled the country from the east coast to the west, and back several times. During those trips, Perry continued to go to open houses throughout the country, focusing on the various architectural designs. All of the traveling helped him design Rhea's and his perfect retirement home. Arches and beams were just some of the magnificent features incorporated into their dream home, which was built by their youngest son, Steve, and the electrical wiring and other parts were done by their son Jeff. Perry and Rhea jubilantly moved into the house in June 1993. Many new and fantastic memories were made there as now they had grandchildren.

As Perry and Rhea grew older, they moved to Douglass Village Retirement community. Being freed from house and lawn maintenance, Perry and Rhea would also go to various locations around that had been struck by natural disasters. They would do whatever they could to help people rebuild their homes and lives.

From there Perry and Rhea moved to Keystone Villas in Douglassville. Perry was also able to live with his son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Katie, for a while after Rhea passed away. He returned to Keystone Villas as his health deteriorated. Perry remained a caring, sweet man to the end, as spoken continuously by the staff at Keystone.

Visitation with family and friends will be held from 10:00-11:00 AM with a memorial service celebrating his life beginning at 11:00 AM on Monday, October 6, 2025, all to be held in the Logan Funeral Home, Inc., 698 E. Lincoln Highway, Exton, PA 19341. Inurnment to follow at Philadelphia Memorial Park-Frazer, PA.