Set yourself in your favorite chair
snuggle down and close your eyes
Now
In your mind’s eye
picture these slides
through a very long life…
A small house in a small Kentucky town
dogs and chickens, a cow and a garden
Family noises, kids darting here and there
the neighborhood like one big house
A small boy running
chasing, being chased
laughing with his buddy Ray
Older siblings, younger siblings
big families the norm
Next slide, school.
The little boy is sitting down front
close to the teacher’s desk
close to the blackboard
so he can see
(poor folks didn’t get glasses)
Teacher’s pet, earned
recognized as bright all along
Next slide, high school.
Football. Strategy and the game
Focus the energy, the strength
give it your all
Block! Tackle! Run run run!
Quick and tricky is so much fun!
Next slide, drug store.
Friends come by
“Wanna come with us?
Goin’ over to Eastern,
to try out for the team.”
Eastern Kentucky College
Tryouts, football field,
standing and a watching.
Coach sez : “Here!
(pitches Ken the football)
Run past those two guys!
Give it a try!”
He did. He won…
a scholarship to the college!
Next slide
a pretty coed.
Shirley Kimball
Cute as cute could be.
Smart.
Click!
Down the diploma aisle
snuggle down and close your eyes
Now
In your mind’s eye
picture these slides
through a very long life…
A small house in a small Kentucky town
dogs and chickens, a cow and a garden
Family noises, kids darting here and there
the neighborhood like one big house
A small boy running
chasing, being chased
laughing with his buddy Ray
Older siblings, younger siblings
big families the norm
Next slide, school.
The little boy is sitting down front
close to the teacher’s desk
close to the blackboard
so he can see
(poor folks didn’t get glasses)
Teacher’s pet, earned
recognized as bright all along
Next slide, high school.
Football. Strategy and the game
Focus the energy, the strength
give it your all
Block! Tackle! Run run run!
Quick and tricky is so much fun!
Next slide, drug store.
Friends come by
“Wanna come with us?
Goin’ over to Eastern,
to try out for the team.”
Eastern Kentucky College
Tryouts, football field,
standing and a watching.
Coach sez : “Here!
(pitches Ken the football)
Run past those two guys!
Give it a try!”
He did. He won…
a scholarship to the college!
Next slide
a pretty coed.
Shirley Kimball
Cute as cute could be.
Smart.
Click!
Down the diploma aisle
Next slide, Lieutenant Perry, U.S. Army
“Take this test and we’ll test your mettle.”
Bingo! Top of the class!
Off to learn artillery!
Next stop Fort Knox and tanks:
Figure out rockets trajectory
do the math
We want rockets on tanks to hit their targets
Invasion in Europe is in the plans.
So he did. They did.
and then down for a marriage license!
Next slide a little girl
cute as a button
daddy’s pride and joy
Kayper! Bright and bubbling!
Next slide, a tiny grocery
proprietor
Athens, Ohio
Grad school classes
just for fun
A master’s degree in the making
Major shift! Next slide:
down to Berea, Kentucky
Berea College
Ken Perry, teacher!
A tiny little dwelling home
Major shift!
Illinois! Getting a ph. d.
Growing a legend program
the best
Accountancy, University of Illinois
Soaring!
“If you’re gonna be a bear…
be a grizzly!”
Give it all you’ve got.”
“If I can get my students
to believe in me,
I can get them to believe in themselves.”
They needed to think:
“This professor is awesome!”
“If Professor Perry thinks I can do it
I think I can! I’m gonna give it all I’ve got!”
So for a very full semester
he rode ’em hard.
Picture a herd of mustangs running
flat out
big cloud of dust behind
heading for the goal
“Read the problem!”
“Don’t fight the problem!”
“Always question your answer!”
“Let the Institute take you by the hand and walk you through the problem!”
They did. They passed.
All along the way
“If you’re gonna be a bear”…
At 93, Kenneth Wibur Perry passed
soared one last time
his life here completed,
oh, did he ever pass!
Selah, Lin 9/2012