Sheila Perkins:
CLASS OF 1972
Woodruff High SchoolClass of 1972
Peoria, IL
Sheila's Story
Life
I married my high school sweetheart, Larry Perkins one year after graduation. We had a wonderful life raising our two children ...Timothy, a Lutheran Pastor in Dallas Tx. and Angela, a Social Worker here in Peoria. We have both been self employed since 1984. Larry, in the printing field and I have had a bookbinding business. Sadly, after being married for 29 years, and 2 years away from retirement, Larry passed away April 6, 2002. He was in The Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming and had just finished building our Log Cabin when he had a heart attack. I miss him sooooo much but I do rejoice for him that I know he is with our Lord in Heaven. Tim has blessed us with 3 grandchildren, Nathan 8 yrs, Andrew 6 yrs. and Elizabeth 4. I am very fortunate to get to spend a lot of time visiting them in Texas. Other than loosing Larry, life has been great!
Workplace
After graduating from WHS in 1972 I went to I.C.C. for a year but I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up so I didn't go back my soph year .I got married that year instead and have never regretted that choice. I was blessed and fell in love with the perfect guy for me and loved being married. We both worked a couple jobs in the first few years so we could break out of the poverty lifestyle that we grew up in. We soon learned that working hard and being dedicated to your job was the only way for us to get ahead in life. After paying rent out the first 6 months of our marriage we quickly realized that we were just throwing that money away and quickly bought our first little house on Sterling Ave. close to Northwoods Mall. It was a cute 1 bedroom house on a slab but you couldn't convince us that it was not a mansion. The house was perfect for us until our first baby came along. With the baby in our room the first couple months we realized something was going to have to change. We quickly decided to make the "open attic" area, which was just a short 6 steps up from our bedroom into a sweet little nursery for baby, Timmy. We had a blast working on this together. I spent the first few years being a stay at home Mom which I totally enjoyed. I would sometimes work on the week ends so Larry would be home with the kids and that was great. Our daughter, Angela...Expand for more
came along 6 1/2 years later when her brother was in first grade. That was fun being home all day again with a new baby who was the sweetest and easiest baby ever. Three years later Larry and I had finally saved up enough money and had built up enough collateral to start up our own Printing Company. I can't tell you how hard that man worked those first few years and how much he really enjoyed it. I was again able to stay home and keep things going there with the household and the kids schedules so that he could concentrate on growing our business. Our employees were like an extended family to Larry and he worked very hard on creating that.He always treated people equally and with respect. After working very hard to build the Company he was very proud and satisfied. He was always there beside each and every employee when there was work to be done, never one to just sit in his office. He liked to be a hands on employer and loved working on the equipment when it needed attention. He did this for 18 years and was 2 years from semi- retiring and looking forward to enjoying his beloved Big Horn Mountains when for reasons that we will never know The Good Lord decided that He needed him in Heaven. Our employees were just devastated and had a lot of pain the same as a family member would have. It just made them stronger and they all worked so hard to keep Perks dream going. I can never express enough appreciation for all of these great people because I was not able to physically or emotionally to do anything, Also, I had not worked at the Co. and had no idea what to do. Larry was smart, he knew that all our employees knew their job and were good at what they did and The Co. is still doing great 8 yrs. later. My children and I thank God and Larry every day for this blessing. He was a good man who planned for the future and loved his family and friends enough to plan for everything to go on even after his untimely death at the way too young age of 48. We all think of Larry every day and will always miss him but do take comfort in knowing that in his short 48 years of life that he touched and changed so many peoples lives and that he left this earth a very happy and fulfilled Man. Thank you Lord, Sheila Yarbrough Perkins
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