Obituary for Jane Anne Perkey
Jane Anne Jones Perkey passed away at her home in Louisville on Thursday, November 3, 2022. She was 87.
Beautiful in body and soul, an avid reader with a vibrant intellect and a character grounded in the community values of her rural Tennessee upbringing, Jane Anne garnered love and admiration throughout her life.
Jane Anne Jones was born on June 4, 1935, in Maury County, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Gladys and Willis Jones. She was raised on a 500-acre working farm, educated at Columbia Central High School and Vanderbilt University, eventually settling in 1969 in Louisville, Kentucky, with husband, radio morning man, Wayne Perkey.
Jane Anne devoted her life to nurture. She raised six children (losing her firstborn to cancer at age two) over three decades, taking in and caring for her infirm parents along the way. Throughout these years, she managed a household bustling with excitement and chaos: a menagerie of children and myriad pets of various species, radio personalities and friends swirling about. Bridge games filled the house with laughter into wee hours of the night many weekends. Throughout, Jane Anne held a steady hand on the tiller, keeping the family’s boisterous ship afloat. Full family participation was expected for church on Sunday mornings and for nightly round-the-table dinners, which she often made with recipes handed down from her mother in Williamsport, Tennessee. Hands were clasped for the blessing, phone calls were unwelcome during dinner. No rules or cajoling were necessary for these traditions, thanks to her delicious fried chicken crisped in the cast iron skillet. Or her signature chocolate meringue pie, made with cooked chocolate that had to reach just the right temperature on the stove top.
Jane Anne’s many responsibilities in life never seemed to dampen her charm. Her intelligence and warmth earned her support, naturally, from those who simply relished her presence. Her oft-described beauty and glorious smile seemed to arise from a particular warmth in her human engagement. She felt for the downtrodden, always looking out for the aggrieved, the less fortunate. She could sniff out the underdog in virtually any context, and if deserving they would get her support… in politics, in a doctor’s office waiting room, on the basketball court of her University of Louisville Cardinals, which she dearly loved.
After raising her brood with a strong emphasis on the value of education, Jane Anne went back to school herself to finish her degree, commenced three decades earlier, a bachelors in humanities from UofL.
Jane Anne was the ultimate mom, self-sacrificing, reliable and steadfastly available for her children. She will be cherished and sorely missed by her survivors — her five children: Rebecca Booth (Stephen Savage), Lady Booth (Ted Olson), Cecil Booth (Danny Sharp), Wayne Perkey II (Annette Perkey), and Josh Perkey (ToriAnn Perkey); eleven grandchildren: Patrick, Michelle, Rebecca, Jack, Carly, Haley Jane, Tripp, Lilian, Thomas, Eleanor, and John; three great-grandchildren: Will, Roxy and Silas; siblings: Willis “Sonny” Jones Jr. and Shirl Jones Coleman; three nephews and two nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, Gladys Eskew Jones and Willis Edgar Jones; son, Steven Booth; and husbands, Fred Stone Booth and Wayne Nelson Perkey.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 19th from 12 noon to 2 p.m., immediately followed by a brief service, at Highlands Funeral Home, 3331 Taylorsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky, 40205.
Contributions may be made to the ALS Association (als.org) or Williamsport Methodist Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Bonita Bratton, 3502 Jimmy Gray Robinson Road, Williamsport, TN, 38487.
Beautiful in body and soul, an avid reader with a vibrant intellect and a character grounded in the community values of her rural Tennessee upbringing, Jane Anne garnered love and admiration throughout her life.
Jane Anne Jones was born on June 4, 1935, in Maury County, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Gladys and Willis Jones. She was raised on a 500-acre working farm, educated at Columbia Central High School and Vanderbilt University, eventually settling in 1969 in Louisville, Kentucky, with husband, radio morning man, Wayne Perkey.
Jane Anne devoted her life to nurture. She raised six children (losing her firstborn to cancer at age two) over three decades, taking in and caring for her infirm parents along the way. Throughout these years, she managed a household bustling with excitement and chaos: a menagerie of children and myriad pets of various species, radio personalities and friends swirling about. Bridge games filled the house with laughter into wee hours of the night many weekends. Throughout, Jane Anne held a steady hand on the tiller, keeping the family’s boisterous ship afloat. Full family participation was expected for church on Sunday mornings and for nightly round-the-table dinners, which she often made with recipes handed down from her mother in Williamsport, Tennessee. Hands were clasped for the blessing, phone calls were unwelcome during dinner. No rules or cajoling were necessary for these traditions, thanks to her delicious fried chicken crisped in the cast iron skillet. Or her signature chocolate meringue pie, made with cooked chocolate that had to reach just the right temperature on the stove top.
Jane Anne’s many responsibilities in life never seemed to dampen her charm. Her intelligence and warmth earned her support, naturally, from those who simply relished her presence. Her oft-described beauty and glorious smile seemed to arise from a particular warmth in her human engagement. She felt for the downtrodden, always looking out for the aggrieved, the less fortunate. She could sniff out the underdog in virtually any context, and if deserving they would get her support… in politics, in a doctor’s office waiting room, on the basketball court of her University of Louisville Cardinals, which she dearly loved.
After raising her brood with a strong emphasis on the value of education, Jane Anne went back to school herself to finish her degree, commenced three decades earlier, a bachelors in humanities from UofL.
Jane Anne was the ultimate mom, self-sacrificing, reliable and steadfastly available for her children. She will be cherished and sorely missed by her survivors — her five children: Rebecca Booth (Stephen Savage), Lady Booth (Ted Olson), Cecil Booth (Danny Sharp), Wayne Perkey II (Annette Perkey), and Josh Perkey (ToriAnn Perkey); eleven grandchildren: Patrick, Michelle, Rebecca, Jack, Carly, Haley Jane, Tripp, Lilian, Thomas, Eleanor, and John; three great-grandchildren: Will, Roxy and Silas; siblings: Willis “Sonny” Jones Jr. and Shirl Jones Coleman; three nephews and two nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, Gladys Eskew Jones and Willis Edgar Jones; son, Steven Booth; and husbands, Fred Stone Booth and Wayne Nelson Perkey.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 19th from 12 noon to 2 p.m., immediately followed by a brief service, at Highlands Funeral Home, 3331 Taylorsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky, 40205.
Contributions may be made to the ALS Association (als.org) or Williamsport Methodist Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Bonita Bratton, 3502 Jimmy Gray Robinson Road, Williamsport, TN, 38487.