Joanne Parker Perry
Joanne Parker Perry, a popular member of the CVS Pharmacy staff in East Hampton for two decades, died on Sunday at Stony Brook University Hospital after a brief illness due to complications of cancer.
Ms. Perry, who was 86 years old, had beaten both breast cancer and kidney cancer in recent years, until a recent recurrence, and had continued to work until earlier this year.
She was born in Philadelphia on April 13, 1931, the daughter of William Reed Parker and the former Kathryn Thompson. Her father had a career as a Navy officer and she grew up in several states.
After his return to civilian life, the family moved to Elmira, N.Y., where she attended the Emma Willard School. She went on to Wellesley College, and graduated from Elmira College.
She was married in 1951 to William Perry, a composer, and the couple settled in Chappaqua, N.Y., in a white colonial that had begun life as a dry goods store in the days before the American Revolution. The marriage ended in divorce.
Ms. Perry leaves a daughter, Kathryn Taft Perry of East Hampton, and a son, Charles Thompson Perry of Munich, along with three grandchildren.
While raising her family, Ms. Perry worked in fashion sales, learned French cooking from the founder of Le Cordon Bleu, and raised elegant Great Pyrenees dogs.
She became an accomplished artist, especially in watercolors. She took many painting trips abroad including to Ireland, Greece, and Kenya.
With her children grown, Ms. Perry moved to East Hampton and built a house on Atlantic Street, where her daughter and grandson later joined her. She adopted a dog named Scout from the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, and loved it dearly, her family said.
Ms. Perry was always an avid reader and a contributor to many charitable causes, but she may best be remembered for her friendly and good-humored personality by the hundreds of customers she came to know at her checkout counter at the CVS drugstore on Pantigo Road, her daughter said.
As per her request, there will be no service and burial will be private. Visiting hours were scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 22, at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton from 7 to 9 p.m.
Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons at P.O. Box 901, Wainscott 11975.