Gertrude Perkins

PORTAGEVILLE -- Gertrude Perkins, 96, died july 16, 2007, at the Golden Life Center in New Madrid.

Born Nov. 9, 1910, in Louisville, Ky., to the late Ethel Lenn and Gertrude Elizabeth Hathorne Ellis, she was a member of the St. Eustachius Catholic Church and the Ladies of Sodality.

In 1938, at Charleston, she married Martin Andrew Perkins who preceded her in death in 1969.

Also preceding her in death were: one son, Harry Lawrence Lavelle; one daughter, Patricia Ann Smith; seven brothers, Joe Ellis, Raymond Ellis, Aubrey Ellis, Leon Ellis, Carl Ellis, Louis Ellis and George Ellis; and two sisters, Adaline Bernath and Pearl Ellis.

Survivors include: three sons, Charles Perkins of Portageville, Paul Perkins of New Madrid and Thomas Perkins of Orange Park, Fla.; three daughters, Rosemary Peardon of Clinton Township, Mich., Barbara Quick of Monee, Ill., and Gayle Bradford of Bragg City; two brothers, Gene Ellis and Jimmy Ellis of Portageville; one sister, Ruth Sprague of Detroit; and 18 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is at 6 p.m. tonight, with rosary prayers at 8 p.m., at DeLisle Funeral Home in Portageville. Services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Eustachius Catholic Church with the Rev. Alan Saunders officiating.

Burial will follow in the Portageville Cemetery.