A correspondent writes:
THE Very Revd Robert Anthony Perry, affectionately known as Tony, who died on 14 January, aged 89, was born in Cheltenham. A natural athlete, he showed a prowess for sports from an early age, going on to represent Leeds University at rugby and cricket. Blessed with natural speed and endurance, he was also a talented 440-yard hurdler. Tony’s proudest sporting achievement was bowling a maiden over to the test legend W. R. Hammond, who was playing as an old boy against his school. In fact, he nearly got him caught out, but to Tony’s wry but typically good-humoured regret, the fielder dropped it.
Tony always had a highly analytical mind, and gained a place at Leeds University to study Latin and Greek. This mental sharpness was evident right to the end of his life, when outwitting his family members at canasta and whist. He had, however, been a reluctant scholar when younger, and acidic comments on his school reports recall the stuff of 1930s school fiction.
His studies were interrupted by the war. His mother made him promise not to join the RAF, which she rightly saw as an extremely risky choice; so he volunteered to enter the army as a trainee officer, eventually getting posted to the foothills of the Himalayas in India. Although the journey over was made extremely dangerous by the German U-boats prowling the area, his time in the foothills was relatively pleasant. He was stationed in a Ghurkha training camp, playing the organ and soccer in equal measure.
On returning to England in 1947, he completed his degree, and trained for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. After five years as a curate in Middlesbrough, he joined USPG. He was sent to Betong, Sarawak, to work among the Dayaks as a priest, and learned the Iban language very quickly. His work there involved running St Augustine’s School, where he developed his considerable skills as a teacher. He built his house there with his bare hands, and it was only an accident involving a kerosene refrigerator and a well-meaning VSO volunteer which led to its fiery demise one night.
Tony moved into other accommodation without a murmur of complaint. His talent at crafting objects out of any materials at hand stayed with him for the rest of his life.
In 1960, Tony moved to Kuching, to become Provost of the Cathedral there. During the following year, he got to know Valerie, an education lecturer from the local college. They married in 1964, in a packed cathedral, and adopted their first son, John, in 1965. They returned to England the following year, travelling in a tiny cargo vessel that nearly capsized during a violent storm in the Mediterranean. Their second son, Mark, was born in 1967, and in 1969 Tony entered the prison service, serving as assistant chaplain at Manchester and then chaplain at Gartree. Many of those to whom he ministered there never forgot him. His first daughter, Margaret, died at birth in 1969; but Mary was adopted in 1972, to the delight of the whole family.
In 1973, the family moved to Mottingham in south-east London, where Tony became parish priest. He had always loved travelling, and, in 1976, the family moved again, on the invitation of the Bishop of Kuching, to Miri in Sarawak, where they spent two wonderful years. Tony and Valerie then ran a theological college in Kuching, before returning to England in 1979. Many of the priests now serving in high office in Sarawak and the region were trained by them.
Tony’s last six years before retirement were spent in idyllic Presteigne, in mid-Wales, where he was priest-in-charge of four churches, often carrying out six services on a Sunday. Tony and Valerie retired to nearby Knighton in 1986, where they completely renovated a derelict house. They lived happily there for several years, running the house after the Benedictine rule, as an open house to anyone in need.
In 1994, they moved back to their beloved Ryhall, where Valerie had spent part of her childhood, and where many of her ancestors had lived, to run the parish for just over two years.
Although still officially retired, Tony carried out his duties there with his customary devotion, passion and care.
After brief spells living in Ketton and then Heckington, Tony and Valerie returned to Ryhall in 2003, and both lived a happy life there right up to Tony’s death. He was a deeply loving husband and father, and was loved by all who knew him.