Ms. Estelle Perkins
Estelle Perkins was born on May 20, 1941 in Brewton, Alabama to Mr. Silas Lee and Pearlie Owens Lee. As a child she was educated at Southern Normal School in Brewton, Alabama.
In 1959, soon after graduating high school, Estelle moved to New York, working first as a nanny, and then joining the New York State Department of Mental Health as a caregiver for adults with special needs.
Recognizing her love of service, she went on to pursue her nursing degree, choosing to attend Lewis A. Wilson Technological Center in Dix Hills, New York. Estelle continued working as a caregiver with the Department of Mental Health while attending nursing school at night, graduating at the top of her class in 1987. As an LPN she was dedicated to serving her community, never turning down the opportunity to work overtime and yet somehow managing to always have dinner on the table every evening for her children.
With five sisters spread across the country, staying connected to family was essential to Estelle. Though they spent each workday together as nurses in the city, Estelle and her younger sister, Gladys, also drove home together and spoke on the phone every night, spending hours on end sharing their stories of the day. Also (in the neighborhood) her youngest sister, Bertha, would frequently stop by the house hoping to say a quick hello whenever she had the chance.
After raising both her children in Long Island, New York, Estelle returned home to Brewton in 2001, where she was reconnected with her childhood sweetheart, Houston Ethridge, and married soon after.
Estelle had a distinctly sweet voice – her devotion to the Christian faith and her family was always known to those who knew her. A lover of fresh air, she enjoyed tending to her flowers, spending hours in her garden after a full day’s work in the city. In her later years, she spent her time fishing at sunrise and watching the sunset from the home she built on Lake Juniper.
She departed this life on Thursday, June 28, 2018, joining her three sisters, Daisy, Annie and Yvonne. She is survived by two sisters, Gladys and Bertha; her two children, Pamela and Bernard; her daughter-in-law, DeJeanette; her granddaughter, Courtney and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and family friends.
The family of the late Estelle Perkins wishes to acknowledge with heartfelt appreciation the many acts of love and sympathy shown to them at this time of bereavement. May God continue to bless and keep you is our prayer.