Robert Perkins

1930 - 2018

Robert Lee Perkins passed away at age 87 on March 20, 2018. Son of the late John Marshall Perkins and Sara Davis Perkins of Jacksonville, Florida, Robert, better known as Bob, was born on June 23, 1930. After graduating from Stetson University in 1951, he attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky where he was awarded a Bachelor of Divinity degree and later taught as a Visiting Professor. He also received the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and a Diploma from the Graduate School for Foreign Students at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He held professional appointments as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Murray State College in Murray, Kentucky; Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois; Associate Professor, Professor, and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL; Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, and Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scholar at Stetson University. Dr. Perkins was an internationally known scholar in the thought of the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He founded the Soren Kierkegaard Society of North America and the Kierkegaard Newsletter and was the general editor of the 24 volume International Kierkegaard Commentary, to which he contributed a number of articles in addition to many articles in other journals and books, several of which he edited. He was the recipient of many honors, grants, and distinguished scholar awards, including a Festschrift in his honor upon the completion of the IKC by Mercer University Press. Dr. Perkins is survived by his wife, Sylvia Walsh Perkins of DeLand; son Todd Severin Perkins and his wife Kim of Mobile, AL, daughter Leslie Perkins Scalfano of Huntsville, AL; step-son Erik Zachary Utterback and wife Melissa of Astoria, OR; granddaughter Savannah Perkins of Mobile, AL; and grandsons Christian Perkins of Mobile, AL; Alexander Scalfano and his wife Alexandra of Dublin, NH, Jason Scalfano of Huntsville, AL and Perry Scalfano of Huntsville, AL. The family will receive condolences at the Allen Summerhill Funeral Home, 126 E. New York Avenue in DeLand from 12-1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, followed by a burial service at Oakdale Cemetery at 2 p.m. and a memorial service in Dr. Perkins' honor at Stetson University in the Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall, at 4 p.m. Online condolences may be made at www.allensummerhill.com. Allen-Summerhill DeLand is in charge.