James Perrin Obituary

James Cothran Perrin, Jr. GREENVILLE, SC - James Cothran Perrin, Jr. died July 6, 2014, at age 91 after a brief illness, ending a long, well-lived life. Visitation will be Friday, July 11, 2014, at 11:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the Greenville ARP Church, 741 Cleveland Street. There will be a light luncheon. Funeral services will begin at 1:00 p.m. A committal service will immediately follow at Woodlawn Cemetery, Garden of Hope Mausoleum. An honor guard will be provided by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, 16th South Carolina Color Guard of Honour. Jim was born April 24, 1923 in Anderson County to Eunice Augusta Macaulay Perrin and James Cothran Perrin. He was graduated from Greenville High School in 1940, and attended the Citadel. He was descended from members of the militia and officers of the line of the Continental Army who fought in the American Revolution. He was the great-grandson of Thomas Chiles Perrin, the first signer of the Ordinance of Secession. The Perrin men all fought for the South in the War Between the States, and some died. His father was a Company Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers serving during WWI in the Ardennes Forrest in France. Jim and his brother Neill volunteered when WWII began. Neill fought with General Patton in the Battle of the Bulge and afterwards in France. Jim served in the Eighth Army Air Force, stationed in Horsham St. Faith, England. He was a navigator and bombardier, flying Liberator B-24 bombers. He was very proud of his son, who served honorably during peace time as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and the South Carolina National Guard. After the war, Jim graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1947 with a degree in business. He was first employed by McFadden Cotton Company as a buyer and cotton classer. He traveled throughout the Southeast and West buying cotton, venturing into Mexico-Senora, Sintola, Torreon, and Mexicalli. He bought cotton in areas of Mexico where the villagers had never before seen a Norte Americano. He met the love of his life, Gladys Browning Lamar, at a tea dance on the roof top of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, and they married June 22, 1951. They were married 56 years. Jim entered the real estate business in Greenville in 1963, and for over 40 years was a salesman and appraiser. He was mentored by Eugene Stone, and was honored to do business with such fine men as John Earle. Jim enjoyed playing golf, and collecting Southern and English sterling silver. He was very knowledgeable about the latter, and perhaps not so much so about the former, but he made up with enthusiasm what he lacked in skill. He was a member of the Greenville ARP Church, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, founder of the Confederate Colonels Club, founder and Commissioner of the Loch Norman Highland Games, and a member of the St. Andrews Society of Upper South Carolina, and Clan Macaulay. He is survived by his son, James Cothran Perrin III and daughter, Jean Perrin Derrick, and her husband Ray Linnaeus Derrick; brother, Neill Macaulay Perrin; grandson, Trent Lowman Derrick; nieces and nephews, Carol Carre; Perrin Cobb; Susan Perrin Watson and her husband James Steven Watson; Ann Perrin Hendrix and her husband Mark Baird Hendrix; Perrin Coxe Kreidler, and her husband Charles John Kreidler; William Burton Coxe, III; Neill Macaulay Coxe; and Isabelle Coxe Mercado. He was predeceased by his wife, Gladys Lamar Perrin; sister, Mary Perrin Coxe; and his parents. Honorary pallbearers are members of the Confederate Colonels Club. Memorials may be made to the Greenville ARP Church, 741 Cleveland Street, Greenville, SC 29601. The Mackey Mortuary. Online registry available at www.mackeymortuary.com. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston