ALLAN WILFRED PERRY
ALLAN WILFRED PERRY, M.D.
APRIL 6, 1929 – APRIL 1, 2011
Allan W. Perry, M.D. has been a resident of Glendale for the last 45 years. He established a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery practice in 1972 at Verdugo Hills Hospital and served the Foothill communities for almost 40 years. His practice was devoted to both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery and he touched the lives of many people living in southern California.
Dr. Perry was born Allan Perepelitza in Traynor, Saskatchewan on April 6, 1929. He received his primary and secondary school education in Canada and then attended Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. While at Andrews University he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology and met Mary Lou Mitchell, whom he would later marry. He and Mary Lou would have celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary this year on June 2. He and his new bride moved to California where he attended Loma Linda University and received a Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1955. After graduation, he returned to Michigan and interned at Detroit Receiving Hospital.
As a child he had an interest and fascination with airplanes and flight, so when the selective service enrolled him in the Doctor Draft in 1956 he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Two years later, after being honorably discharged form the Air Force, he moved to Cleveland, Tennessee and began the general practice of medicine.
In 1961 the Seventh-day Adventist church contacted him about becoming a medical missionary to Africa. Several months later he moved his family to Kendu Mission Hospital, Kendu Bay, Kenya, East Africa. Kendu Mission Hospital was a small 120-bed hospital located on the northeast shore of Lake Victoria. He ran that hospital for five years returning to Glendale, California in 1966. He then trained in General Surgery at White Memorial Medical Center and in Plastic Surgery at the University of California Los Angeles.
Medical missions and philanthropy were the cornerstones of his life. He was active in the Eagle Rock Seventh-day Adventist church, the La Canada Kiwanis Club, LIGA International (Flying Doctors of Mercy), the Los Angeles County and California Medical Associations, the California and American Societies of Plastic Surgeons, as well as many other organizations. He served as president of the Loma Linda University, School Of Medicine, Alumni Association during 1981 and 1982. Over the years he participated in medical missions to Mexico, Honduras, Fiji, Kenya, Ecuador, Russia and the Ukraine. Most of these missions involved treating children with congenital deformities such as cleft lip and palate as well as health education.
After a short illness he died at Huntington Memorial Hospital on April 1 with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife Mary Lou, his son Allan Perry, Jr., his daughters Julie Perry-Wheeler and Lisa Bancarz-Baltazar and six grandchildren.