Ludora Feese Perkins, of Knifley, died October 27, 2020, of natural causes exacerbated by lingering effects of COVID-19.
Ludora was born October 22, 1925, to James Rufus and Villa Lee Dunbar Feese of Adair County, Kentucky. She attended elementary and high school in Knifley and continued her education at Campbellsville College. After earning an associate’s degree, she taught in a one-room school for several years.
Ludora married William Edward Perkins of Knifley in 1949 and had four children: Lana Dale, Edwina, Kimberly, and Jennifer Clare. As she raised her children, she worked on the family’s farm and also worked as an aide for Head Start, as a substitute teacher at Knifley Grade Center, and as a factory worker at Union Underwear in Campbellsville.
Learning, teaching, singing and travel were Ludora’s passions. In the late 1970s, Ludora committed to returning to the classroom. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Campbellsville College in 1982, substitute-taught in Adair and Taylor County elementary schools for two years, and reached her goal of teaching full time at Knifley Grade Center in the mid-1980s. As she taught eighth grade over the next two decades, she lived a mantra of “learn something new every day” by continuing her education to master’s and eventually Rank I level. She retired from teaching in 2001.
She served as song leader at Plum Point Baptist Church for many years and loved gospel music.
Ludora began leading bus tours with a member of her church, Plum Point Baptist Church, in the 1990s. The early trips led her to create “Plum Point Young at Heart,” an informal name for the group tours she coordinated annually. She loved planning each year’s new trip; with daughter Kimberly and sister Laverne as assistants, she helped church and community members enjoy sites across the country. Her favorite destinations included New York City, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Chicago, and Virginia Beach. These bus trips were a highlight of her later years, and community members still talk about these trips as great memories.
Ludora is survived by the following:
In addition to her parents, Ludora was preceded in death by her husband, William Edward Perkins; two brothers and six sisters—Clement Heistand Feese, George Cyrus Feese, Mattie Lee Feese, Rosa Lillian Feese, Euline Feese, Jeraldene Tucker, Maudye Hovious, and Dellie Johnson; and a son-in-law, Michael Barbee.
Funeral services will be held privately for family only. Burial will follow in Dunbar Family Cemetery.
Memorials are requested to be in the form of donation of Gideon Bibles or to the Plum Point Coffee Can Fund. These may be left at the funeral home.
Grissom-Martin Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. www.grissommartin.com
