Funeral services for John Worth Perritt, 90, of Ruston, LA will be 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at First Baptist Church with Rev. Andy Johnson officiating the service. Interment will follow at 2:00 P.M. in Keatchie Cemetery in Keatchie, LA under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston.
Visitation will be 9:30 A.M. until service time in Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church in Ruston.
When John Worth Perritt came to Ruston in North Louisiana from his high school home of Tyler, Texas in 1939, it was to play football at Louisiana Tech and earn an education. He did both, with an enthusiasm and leadership that took him to the position finally of Mayor of his chosen home, where he served longer than any other person in the city’s history. Perritt was born March 24, 1919 in Kirbyville, Texas, son of a Baptist minister, the Rev. W.B. Perritt, Sr., and his wife, the former Nealie Hays of Castor, Louisiana. As the middle son in the family, John had an older brother W. B., Jr., and a younger brother, Brooks Perritt, both of whom are deceased.
He was educated in the Tyler public school system, graduating in 1939 from Tyler High School, where he excelled in football.
John’s uncle, Drew Hays, a Ruston businessman at the time, invited John to come to Ruston and enroll at Louisiana Tech. He was a walk-on for the Tech football team, and earned a scholarship. He starred as a left halfback on the old Notre Dame offensive system - acting as ball handler much like the quarterback in modern football, handing off, passing, or running. He was team captain in 1942, playing with such ex-Tech greats as Garland Gregory, Bob May, Jim Garner, and Paul Bonin.
Early in his career at Tech, Perritt met Judy, Judith Elizabeth Talbert, of Oaks Plantation at Keatchie, Caddo Parish, Louisiana-at a school dance. They fell in love and were married July 22, 1940, and had a son, John W. Perritt, Jr., of Houston, Texas who died in 2006 at age 61.
Perritt was captain of the Tech Bulldogs football team in 1942, an all-conference halfback in the Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference. He was listed in Who’s Who in Colleges and Universities in 1942.
Interrupting his college career during World War II, Perritt joined the Army Air Force, and served in the South Pacific with the 576th Aircraft Warning Battalion, a radar unit. He returned to Tech to graduate as president of his graduating class of 39, with a bachelor of arts in physical education the summer of 1946. Among his collegiate honors were presidency of the Key Club, and the Athletic Club.
A back injury suffered while working on a campus job, plus the hard knocks of four years of college football, left John Perritt with permanent hip damage which troubled him during all of his adult life. After graduation, he and his uncle, Drew Hays, partnered in a retail store, Drew’s Shoes, in downtown Ruston. Perritt worked in the shoe business for 17 years, and made a start on earning a graduate in special education before entering politics in Ruston.
Walking with the aid of crutches- which he used during most of his years in the office-Perritt canvassed every house in Ruston and won the position of Mayor in 1962 by the scant margin of 52 votes. Before taking office in July, Perritt said he gave himself a “30 day crash course” in municipal government by visiting every city in the region.
“My goal was to be the Mayor for all the people,” Perritt said in an interview some 25 years after his retirement.
Reviewing the accomplishments of his era as Mayor of Ruston, Perritt credited members of the City Councils and the department heads during his five terms with extraordinary dedication to progress during a period when the City began a period of growth which has continued to gain momentum through the present day.
Perritt recounted that under his administration, every street in the City was blacktopped, sewerage was made available to every home, and modern street lights were installed serving “those in the dark and the dust,” Perritt said. Arizona Avenue was widened from downtown to the Louisiana Tech campus and Kentucky Avenue was opened from Farmerville Street to Riser Road.
The city block formerly the site of the original Ruston College, and later Ruston High School, on Trenton Street in downtown Ruston, was acquired from the Lincoln Parish School Board, and the present Ruston Municipal Center, including the City Hall and Civic Center, was constructed with no increase in municipal taxes.
Outside local borders, Perritt served as president of the Louisiana Municipal Association in 1966; as president of the American Association of Small Cities in 1979; and as a member of the board of directors of the Southwest Power Administration.
He was one of the principal organizers of the Louisiana Electric Power Association, a consortium of 19 municipally-owned generating plants and districts.
Perritt was a fan of country-western music, and enjoyed playing amateur guitar with friends, some of whom played professionally.
John is survived by his wife of 69 years, Judy Perritt of Ruston; daughter-in-law, Janie Perritt; niece, Judy Boxill; nephews, John William Perritt; Joe Herrin; Bill Herrin; and Raymond Camus.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the donor’s choice.
Pallbearers will be Bert Jones, Bill Jones, Drew Jones, Tom Jones, Rodney Manning, and Buddy Terzia. Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Baskin, Bill Carter, Jimmy Fallin, Tom Kelly, Mike Reed, and The Adult Eight Men’s Class.