Dr. Eugene A. Perry, 83, passed away on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Amarillo, Texas. Viewings will be held on April 3rd and 4th, 2024 from 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM at Bartley Funeral Home with a visitation on April 4, 2024, from 4:00 – 8:00 PM at Bartley Funeral Home. A Funeral Service will be held on Friday, April 5 at 1:00 PM at College Heights Baptist Church, Plainview, TX with Dr. Dan Crawford and Dr. Taylor Lassiter officiating. Graveside Services to follow at Plainview Cemetery, 100 Joliet St. Plainview, TX 79072.  Services are under the direction of Bartley Funeral Home Plainview, Texas.

Eugene Addison Perry was born on December 6, 1940 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He became a Christian at an early age and was committed to the Lord his whole life. Gene graduated from College High School in Bartlesville in 1958. He surrendered to the call to ministry at age 17 and was licensed to preach August 20, 1958. His home church, Highland Park Baptist Church, Bartlesville, ordained him to the gospel ministry on December 17, 1961.

Gene graduated with a BA from Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK in 1962. He then moved to Fort Worth, Texas to continue his studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. There he earned four degrees (Bachelor of Divinity in 1966, Master of Divinity in 1968, Master of Religious Education in 1968, and later, a Master of Arts in Religious Education in 1983.)  While a seminary student, he served as pastor of Ashland Baptist Church in Ashland, OK from October 1961 to October 1962, studying his Greek flashcards against the steering wheel as he drove back and forth.

It was during his time in Fort Worth that Gene met Lena Raneal Ivey and they married on May 17, 1964. They served together in the Young Adult department of Travis Avenue Baptist Church and were involved in more than one evangelistic association. Their son Mark Edward was born in Ft. Worth in 1967.

The family moved to Konawa, OK in January 1969 to pastor First Baptist Church. Suzanne Elizabeth was born the day after Easter in 1970. Brookhaven Baptist Church in Norman, OK was the next call, and Gene became their pastor in November 1972. During these years, Gene & Raneal and the family began to faithfully attend annual conferences at Glorieta Baptist Assembly in New Mexico. Gene's next pastorate was First Baptist Church in Lone Grove, beginning February 1976. Also that year, he and Raneal made a mission trip north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. While at Lone Grove, Gene completed his Doctor of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary in May of 1978. Rebecca Raneal completed the family in December of that year. It was there Gene supported his wife through the first of several significant medical events, and enlisted prayer support for her from around the world.

In April 1980, Dr. Perry answered the call of First Baptist Church in Tonkawa, OK to be their pastor. During this pastorate, he participated in a mission trip to the Philippines (1981) and led mission trips to Spain (1983, 1985), and Portugal (1985). His last overseas mission trip was to Nigeria in 1991. He preached several week-long revivals around the country. Dr. Perry helped found the Fort Oakland Mission Church on the Tonkawa Reservation, now called Faith Baptist Church. He served as Adjunct Faculty member for both Southern Baptist Center for Biblical Studies and for Oklahoma Baptist University as well as the Alumni Association of Luther Rice Seminary. Dr. Perry was happy to participate on various committees and commissions at the Association and State Convention levels. He and his wife were also lifelong participants and trainers in several evangelism and outreach endeavors including MasterLife, EE, CWT, and FAITH.

In October 1988 the Perry family moved to Westport Baptist Church near Lake Keystone, west of Tulsa, OK. This was Dr. Perry's longest pastorate, from which he retired November 3, 2007 after 40 years as a pastor. While at Westport, he led the church to partner with other churches in the area to start the new congregations of Keystone Hills Baptist Church and Gypsy Baptist Mission in Bristow.

In each of his tenures as pastor, Dr. Perry invested in the local Ministerial Alliance and was active in the local Baptist Association in each region. He was generous with his time to support and assist other pastors. Church staff members from each of his churches remember him as being helpful to their growth in their personal commitment and ministry skills.

Gene believed in investing in the younger generation, and took both youth and children to summer camp each year.  He attended Falls Creek Baptist Assembly both as a camper and as a counselor almost every summer between 1954 and 2007.

Gene was also a calm presence in countless hospital rooms, ministering to families day or night during moments of medical crisis. He was always ready to respond in time of need, and was personally on hand to minister to the First Responders after the OKC bombing.

Gene had a clever sense of humor and enjoyed puns of all kinds. He was a gifted storyteller and delighted in delivering a punchline. He learned to use a personal computer in 2000. From then on, he found great pleasure both in emailing jokes and funny stories, and printing them off to hand out to his friends in person.

After Gene retired, he and Raneal moved to Plainview, Texas to be near family, which brought joy to them both. Being an only child, he deeply enjoyed the close-knit family he married into, and was always happy to attend a family gathering. Dr. Perry retired from being a pastor, but was eager to continue to live out his calling to ministry, and especially in the pulpit. In West Texas, he served as pulpit supply in over 100 area churches, even after a decline in health required him to sit as he preached. He was also ordained as a Deacon August 8, 2016 at College Heights Baptist Church, in Plainview, where he was a member for the remainder of his life. In that role, aspired to be the kind of deacon he wished he had had as a pastor.

Gene lived independently until due to the complications of a fall in Oct 2023 he required full time care. A brief illness in March 2024 precipitated the need for hospice, where he passed away peacefully in his sleep. Both daughters were with him in his last days, and everyone in the family was able to visit and say goodbye in his final week. After he spoke his words of blessing, he set his heart on heaven and never looked back, eager to move forward and claim the promise of eternal life.

Preceding Eugene in death were his parents, Eugene Perry and Mary Beddoe Perry Battle, stepfather Ernest Battle, wife Raneal Ivey Perry, and son Mark Perry.

Survivors include daughters Suzanne Perry of Vancouver, BC Canada; Rebecca Perry and husband Ted Peeper of Stillwater, OK; daughter-in-law Victoria Bogucki Perry; granddaughter Abbey Ojeda and husband Nelson Ojeda; grandson Adam Perry; and great-grandchildren Perry, Lena, Elle, and Monroe Ojeda, all of Tulsa, OK, along with other family and friends.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the North American Mission Board (account: MSC #9186). Make payable to NAMB and write "MSC #9186" on the memo line. North American Mission Board PO Box 116543 Atlanta, GA 30368-6543 USA or in Dr. Perry's memory to one of the need-based scholarships for ministry students at Oklahoma Baptist University.  Should you send flowers, please no Lilly's or carnations, as the family is highly allergic.