BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Adele didn’t mind that John Perkins didn’t dance.
“We used to go to a place where they had dancing to records,” Adele said. “Just like a neighborhood tavern.
“That’s where we met, but he didn’t dance.”
“I still don’t,” John said.
It was 1943, and young men and women looked for a moment of respite, knowing that some would go serve in the United States military during WWII.
“There were a whole bunch of kids that hung out together, and he did too,” Adele said. “He just stood out.”
John served in the United States Navy for 2.5 years. He was stationed in the Great Lakes, but spent time in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on an Escort Carrier.
“I used to write everyday,” Adele said. “And he used to write everyday. So we got letters everyday; sometimes two or three.”
John said writing letters helped pass the time.
“You just get up, do your duty during the day, and then go back to bed,” John said. “There was never much to do.”
During patrol, the escort shot at submarines when they needed to. The escort was also a large moving target, so it never went to port.
His experience on the naval ship sparked a love for travel, though. John knew that he was close to seeing parts of the world, like Asia and Africa, but the crew never got off the ship.
“It seemed like a lot at the time, but now it doesn’t seem like much,” he said.
John and Adele’s perspective on their life today comes as they spend time together at The Glenwood Assisted Living of Mahomet.
“We’ve settled with her in that chair and me in this chair and that’s life,” John said.
When John returned from the war in 1945, he joined the labor force and moved to LaSalle to marry Adele on Feb. 26.
“The day they got married there was an ice storm,” their daughter Nancy Williams said. “(Adele) got to the church on time, but (John) was two hours late for the ceremony. Mom and her family had to walk probably nine blocks to the church. They finally got there and everything took place, but it wasn’t as easy as it should have been.”
John was happy to be home with his bride.
“There was plenty of work to do, but it was mundane,” he said.
Their life was spent raising their son and daughter, Nancy and Michael, as they worked to provide for their family. They lived in LaSalle for 10 years, then Peru for another 10 before moving to Urbana so that John could be the Branch Manager for Springfield Electric.
During the time John spent at Springfield Electric, he helped to install the lighting at Memorial Stadium and on the outside of Assembly Hall.
John was responsible for making sure that everything was in working order for years.
“I met a lot of people through that,” he said.
His work at the University of Illinois, gave John the opportunity to see President Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford.
John also remembers protests along Neil Street where about 200 naked women paraded down Neil Street and campus to protest the Vietnam War.
“I’ve seen the interstate go in, and Chanute Air Force Base,” John said. “It’s been an interesting life.”
Adele was right there alongside John, working at Springfield Electric as a volunteer in the evenings.
“She would go in and help him sort papers and that sort of thing,” Nancy said. “So she was gone out of the house quite a bit.”
“We were always together,” Adele said. “Wherever I went, he was right there.”
Looking back, John doesn’t think much of the work he did is very interesting, but he does love to talk about the trips he and Adele went on together.
They drove around the United States and traveled overseas to England, Italy, the Spanish Mediterranean Coast, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, France, Casablanca, Caracas Venezuela, Hong Kong, Canada, Hawaii and Alaska.
“We just liked to get in the car and go,” Adele said. “We’d make up our mind and we’d go.”
Including his time in the Navy, John has been around the world twice.
John and Adele will celebrate 75 years of marriage in 2020. Their family, which includes five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren will gather to wish their grandparents a happy anniversary.
For the last five years The Glenwood has provided the Perkins with a place to enjoy each other’s company as they grow old together. Neither John or Adele had the secret to staying together for so long, but John said. “when you get married, you want to go in with your eyes open.”
