Century Care Center Receives Top Award
March 12, 2008
Century Care Center has received a top award for patient care, beating out 13 other nursing homes in the state of Florida
Century Care received the President’s Circle of Excellence award from Summit Care. Summit Care is a management company based in Tallahassee that currently manages Century Care and 13 other nursing care facilities in the state. Century Care was rated the company’s number one facility.
“We have a wonderful team working to provide the best care available to your moms, dads, grannies, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and friends. We work hard, we care, and
we are proud,” said Activities Director Mae Hildreth.
Century Care is also ranked among the top five percent of nursing homes in Florida.
March 2008 information from the Florida Agency for Health Care Information shows that Century Care Center received five of a possible five stars for “Quality of Care”, “Quality of Life”, “Nutrition and Hydration”, “Restraints and Abuse”, “Pressure Ulcers”, “Decline” and “Dignity”. The five star rating in categories like “Pressure Ulcers” indicates that facility does not suffer a problem in that area.
“Thanks to all staff for making our surveys rank above average in quality of care,” Hildreth said.
The only other Summit Care facilities in Northwest Florida are located in Milton.
Pictured above: Residents at Century Care Center ring in the New Year.
NorthEscambia.com Investigative Series Part Three: Walker Says “Allied Is Providing Inadequate Service”
March 12, 2008
Today, NorthEscambia.com continues our seven part investigative series looking at Allied Waste and their service to the citizens of the North Escambia area. We will take a look at Allied’s service through comments both good and bad from dozens of Allied customers. And we will learn where our representative on the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, Larry Walker, and the ECUA stand on Allied Waste service in North Escambia.
In today’s installment of this series, we will take a look at some specific comments from Walker about Allied Waste from a document obtained by NorthEscambia.com from last month’s meeting of the ECUA. On Thursday, we’ll have comments submitted by NorthEscambia.com readers. On Friday, we will take a look at some of the positive comments about Allied’s service. On Saturday, we plan to have a response from Allied Waste officials. On Sunday, we will end the series with a wrap-up and a blog.
“Allied Is Providing Inadequate Service”
“Allied is providing inadequate service.” That’s what District 5 ECUA member Larry Walker said in a memo NorthEscambia.com obtained. “Allied continues to perform at a substandard level. Many allied customers continue to be inadequately served.”
Walker wrote the memo in an attempt to have Allied’s franchise agreement, which expires in 2010, revoked. The follow is text directly from that memo. The examples that he references “above” were examples of poor service to particular customers. Many of those are mentioned in our story yesterday about Allied. Click here to read that story.
Apparent Management
Policies of AlliedThe complaints cited above imply the existence of certain Allied management policies, as follows:
1. Apparent Allied policy: Arbitrarily limit the number of customer calls that are answered by office employees. Route many customer calls to “hold” status or to an answering machine. Incoming calls placed on hold sometimes are never picked up by an Allied employee. (See Mrs. Dagen’s report, above.) Some customers have been unable to speak to an Allied representative by telephone, despite repeated efforts. (The reports above include three such cases, including one report of “repeated” efforts to call Allied over a thirty-day period.)
2. Apparent Allied policy: Ignore many customer messages left on Allied answering machines. Customers who have left recorded messages often receive no response from Allied staff. (Six cases of this flagrant form of poor customer service are reported above.)
3. Apparent Allied policy: Do not allow office employees to route calls through to a supervisor. Many customers have reported to me in the past that Allied office workers have refused to–or have not been allowed to–forward calls to an Allied manager. (See reports of Mr. Steadham and Ms. Rickard, above.) Sometimes an Allied office employee places a customer on hold, and no one ever takes up the call again.
4. Apparent Allied policy: Office staff are to placate skipped customers with promises that “a truck will come tomorrow,” even though, in the words of one customer cited above, “they never do.” I have heard many customer complaints about such unkept promises.
5. Apparent Allied policy: Allow office staff to treat customers disrespectfully. (See report of Mrs. Hughes, above.) I received similar reports, prior to January 2008.
6. Apparent Allied policy: Largely ignore scheduled pickup times of day, or even days of the week. Allied trucks often run much later in the day than expected. (See Mr. Baldwin’s comment, above.) Sometimes a route is run a day late. Sometimes a route—or a part of a route—is completely skipped. As Mrs. Hughes said, above, “They come when they want to”—at some locations, at least.
7. Apparent Allied policy: Either (a) require or (b) allow drivers to skip pickups at times. (See comment by Mrs. Hughes, above.)
8. Apparent Allied policy: Skip certain pickups (on dirt roads, mainly) in holiday weeks. Mr. Lowery, Mr. Macks, and Mrs. Hughes report that Allied skips one or both pickups at their respective residences during every holiday week.
9. Apparent Allied policy: Drivers and managers are to ignore defective containers (broken wheels, broken lids, and missing lids), and office employees and managers are to ignore customer complaints about defective containers. In fifteen cases noted above, defective containers were not replaced until Allied was pressured by ECUA. Some of these containers had been in bad shape for “years,” according to the customers. Some of the customers report that they had tried repeatedly to get Allied to provide a new container, without success. Some said that, finally, they had given up and had quit trying to get a better container.
(If the incidence of broken/missing lids in Eagle Ridge subdivision in January was representative of the entire Allied franchise area, some 770 Allied customers had containers with broken/missing lids at that time.)10. Apparent Allied policy: Drivers are not required to set containers down with the lids securely atop the container; rather, drivers are allowed to let the lids hang down on the back side of the container when the container is returned to the pavement/ground. When the lid is left hanging in that manner, the container is more likely to be blown over and damaged by passing traffic. (See comments by Mr. Lowery and Mr. Baldwin, above.) Further, if the customer allows the container to remain in place with the lid hanging down until the next pickup, the driver may then allow the grappling hooks of the truck’s pneumatic lift to close on the suspended lid, pulling on it from both sides and causing it to split. This is the most common cause of damaged lids in the Allied system.
11. Apparent Allied policy: Drivers are either (a) required or (b) allowed to operate at an inordinately fast pace, in terms both of (a) driving speed and (b) container-handling speed. Such excessive speed contributes to several problems:
a. Broken/missing container lids are due to driver abuse, primarily. The grappling arm of the truck causes most of the breakage (splitting) of lids.
b. Broken wheels of containers are due to the containers being pounded down onto the pavement by the driver. (See Mr. Cantrell’s case, above.)
c. General abuse of the containers is caused by the driver beginning to accelerate before setting the container down properly. (See comments by Mr. Lowery and Mr. Baldwin, above.)
d. Trash escapes during the container-emptying process when the driver does not take time to empty a container with care. (See comments by Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Leath, above.)
e. Trash blows out of the Allied trucks when drivers drive at excessive speeds and/or when they fail to close the truck properly. (See comments by Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Leath, above. Also, Mr. Scott Poynter, Sunshine Hill Road, Molino, reported to me in November 2007 that he had seen approximately fifty pieces of trash blow out of an Allied truck on Highway 29 between Molino and Cantonment.)12. Apparent Allied policy: Remedy service deficiencies only when pressured by ECUA to do so. Ignore customer complaints. Ignore obvious, readily visible deficiencies, such as the twelve missing/broken lids in Eagle Ridge subdivision. Make corrections only when ECUA presses for them.
Conclusion
Allied is Providing Inadequate Service. Allied continues to perform at a substandard level. Many Allied customers continue to be inadequately served.
Allied is Not in Compliance with Franchise-Agreement Requirements. Because of the service deficiencies noted in this memo and other aspects of its performance, Allied is not in compliance with all requirements of its franchise agreement with ECUA. This non-compliance constitutes grounds for termination of the franchise by ECUA. ECUA should initiate proceedings to terminate the Allied franchise.
Failure of ECUA to Meet Its Moral Obligations. ECUA is failing to meet its responsibilities to residents who are poorly served by Allied. The responsibility of ensuring that Allied customers are well served falls on the ECUA, ultimately. ECUA is allowing Allied to perform poorly! ECUA is to blame, ultimately, for each of the instances of poor customer service by Allied that are reported in this memo and for each of the questionable Allied management policies identified in this memo. ECUA should be sending letters of apology to those residents who are badly served by Allied.
Your Chance to Be Heard
If you would like to add your comments about Allied Waste’s service (good or bad) in North Escambia, email your comments to news@northescambia.com. Please include your name and your address. In our story, will will only use the area in which you live (such as “the 13000 block of Highway 97″) and will not print your name. You can also send photographs of your can to the email address. We will feature NorthEscambia.com reader comments on Thursday.
Also, Larry Walker of the ECUA had requested that NorthEscambia.com readers contact him with their comments, whether good or bad, about Allied Waste by email to lwalker@ecua.org or by phone at 723-6094. Note that emails sent to the ecua.org address would be public record under Florida law (this does not apply to emails sent to the northescambia.com address in the paragraph above).
To read part one of this series from Monday, click here, for background information.
To read part two of this series from Tuesday, click here.
See How Each North Escambia School Did On Last Year’s FCAT
March 12, 2008
FCAT testing is in full swing at North Escambia schools this week. In last year’s FCATs, schools in our area ranked from “A” to “F” in their grades from the Florida Department of Education. Today, NorthEscambia.com is going to take look back at how the schools in our area did in last year’s FCATs.
During last year’s FCATs, three schools in our area — Bratt Elementary, Ernest Ward Middle School and Molino Park Elementary — were ranked as “A” schools in Florida. Byrneville Elementary School was ranked as a “B” school. Northview High School ranked as a “C’ school. Carver/Century K-8 was ranked as an “F” school.
In the 2007 reading FCAT, Bratt was the top ranked elementary school in our area. Almost 90 percent of last year’s fourth graders at Bratt made a “3″ or higher on the reading test. Byrneville and Molino Park both had 74 percent of their fourth graders at a “3″ or higher. At Carver/Century, just 26 percent of fourth graders made a passing score of “3″ or higher on the ‘07 reading FACT.
On the seventh grade reading FCAT in our area middle schools, Ernest Ward had 58 percent at a “3″ or higher. At Carver/Century, that number was just 22 percent.
At Northview, only 34 percent of tenth graders made a “3″ or higher on last year’s reading FCAT.
On the 2007 Math FCAT, 74 percent of Bratt students, 79 percent of Byrneville students and 74 percent of Molino Park students scored a “3″ or higher. At Carver/Century, that number was just 17 percent.
Carver/Century’s seventh grade math performance last year was even more dismal, with only nine percent of seventh graders making a passing score of “3″ or higher on the FCAT. Ernest Ward had 74 percent of its seventh graders at a “3″ or above. At Northview, 61 percent of tenth graders make a “3″ plus.
NorthEscambia.com ran all the 2007 FCAT numbers from our area schools into one easy report. Click here to see the results.
Investigative Series Part Two: Specific Complaints Against Allied Waste
March 11, 2008
Today, NorthEscambia.com continues our seven part investigative series looking at Allied Waste and their service to the citizens of the North Escambia area. We will take a look at Allied’s service through comments both good and bad from dozens of Allied customers. And we will learn where our representative on the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, Larry Walker, and the ECUA stand on Allied Waste service in North Escambia.
In today’s installment of this series, we will take a look at some specific complaints against Allied Waste from a document obtained by NorthEscambia.com from last month’s meeting of the ECUA. On Wednesday, we’ll have more from the ECUA documents we obtained. On Thursday, we’ll have comments submitted by NorthEscambia.com readers. On Friday, we will take a look at some of the positive comments about Allied’s service. On Saturday, we plan to have a response from Allied Waste officials. On Sunday, we will end the series with a wrap-up and a blog.
Some of the Specific Complaints
In early January, according to the ECUA document obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Walker spoke to four Molino residents about their Allied service. That document indicates the following:
–Bill Cantrell in the 1500 block of Jack’s Branch Road, reported that he was generally dissatisfied with Allied’s service. His container had a broken wheel “for a long time”, and he had made repeated attempts to get Allied to replace the can. But nothing was done after repeated attempts to call Allied, and “he had quit trying”.
–John Baldwin, in the 2700 block of Molino Road, reported that his trash service from Allied is irregular, with pickup times varying wildly from the early morning to early evening. He said the driver puts the cans back down with the automated truck in such a way that the lid is always open, allowing the can to be blown into traffic. He stated that the driver does not take the time to properly dump the can into the truck, causing trash to be spilled onto the ground. He also complained that trash often blows out of the Allied truck as it speeds down the highway.
–C.R. Lowery, in the 1600 block of Highway 196, reported that Allied skipped him twice during the Christmas and New Year holiday weeks, and skipped him again on January 8. He said the container often sat down by the automated truck about three feet away from its original location because the driver accelerates too early. He said the lid on this container is open “85-90% of the time”, and the lid on his container was “torn” in January.
–Leanard Macks, in the 7400 block of Bratt Road, reported that Allied had not picked up his garbage for two full weeks during the holidays. He made several unsuccessful attempt to call Allied before finally reaching a human. A supervisor subsequently picked up his garbage. Macks said that Allied has skipped one pickup, and sometimes two, in every holiday week of the last year. Walker, in his ECUA presentation, said “It appears to be standard operating procedure for Allied to skip Mr. Macks (on a dirt road) in any and all holiday weeks.”
“When Allied skips a Friday pickup and he calls to report it, he is ‘always told’ that a special pickup will be made on Saturday, but ‘it never happens’.” Walker wrote.
– Shannon Hughes, in the 4800 block of Pineville Road, reported that her trash was not picked up during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weeks, and she had been skipped “regularly” during 2007. She said Allied comes “only when they feel like it”.
–Melinda Dagen, in the 3200 block of South Pineville Road, said she had spent up to 30 minutes on hold in an attempt to reach someone at Allied without anyone picking up the call from the automated system. She was contacted by Allied only after ECUA contacted Allied on her behalf.
–Carrie Rickard, in the 5600 block of Chestnut Road, reported that after the Molino tornado damaged her home and blew away her Allied container, she requested a replacement one multiple times over a nine day period. She did not receive a replacement container until after she contacted the ECUA and ECUA contacted Allied on her behalf.
Your Chance to Be Heard
If you would like to add your comments about Allied Waste’s service (good or bad) in North Escambia, email your comments to news@northescambia.com. Please include your name and your address. In our story, will will only use the area in which you live (such as “the 13000 block of Highway 97″) and will not print your name. You can also send photographs of your can to the email address. We will feature NorthEscambia.com reader comments on Thursday.
Also, Larry Walker of the ECUA had requested that NorthEscambia.com readers contact him with their comments, whether good or bad, about Allied Waste by email to lwalker@ecua.org or by phone at 723-6094. Note that emails sent to the ecua.org address would be public record under Florida law (this does not apply to emails sent to the northescambia.com address in the paragraph above).
To read part one of this series from Monday, click here, for background information.
Many North Escambia Residents Receiving Notices From IRS
March 11, 2008
You may soon receive a notice in your mailbox from the IRS. But not to worry, you are not alone. Thousands of North Escambia residents have or will soon receive the notices from the IRS.
The Internal Revenue Service letters are just to remind you to file a 2007 tax return in order to receive a 2008 economic stimulus payment.
The mailings by the IRSwill continue throughout the month. The informational notice, titled “Economic Stimulus Payment Notice”, alerts people that they may be eligible for a one-time stimulus payment of up to $600 ($1,200 married filing jointly) starting in May. There also is a $300 per child payment for qualifying children younger than 17.
“These special letters remind people that they won’t need to do anything more than file a 2007 tax return in order to put the stimulus payment process in motion,” Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff said.
The notice is informational and does not seek any financial information. The main mailings, which will take place in three weekly batches, will go to taxpayers who filed a tax return last year.
“To receive a payment in 2008, individuals who qualify will not have to do anything more than file a 2007 tax return. The IRS will determine eligibility, figure the amount and send the payment,” the notice states. “This payment should not be confused with any 2007 income tax refund that is owed to you by the federal government. Income tax refunds for 2007 will be made separately from this one-time payment.”
However, some people must take an extra step this year to receive a stimulus payment. In late March, the IRS will send a special mailing to certain recipients of Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits. Generally, those benefits are nontaxable and recipients do not file tax returns. In order to receive a stimulus payment, people in this group need to file a tax return if they have at least $3,000 from a combination of certain Social Security benefits, Veterans benefits and earned income. The minimum stimulus payment for these people is $300 ($600 for married filing jointly).
Pictured above: An example of the IRS notices being mailed.
Six Methodist Churches Holding Revival Services
March 11, 2008
Farm Hill, Lathram Chapel, Aldersgate, Byrneville, Allen Memorial and Cottage Hill United Methodist churches are continuing in revival with Evangelist John Barrett March until Wednesday. Evening services will be at 6:30 p.m. The location for each service will be as follows:
Wednesday, March 12 Ensley UMC 6:30 p.m.
Contact Rev. Pam Avery at (850) 529-9295 for additional information on the revival, which began Sunday.
On Sunday, services were held at McDavid UMC and Farm Hill UMC. Monday night, services were held at Lathram Chapel UMC. Tuesday night services were held at Cottage Hill UMC.
FCAT Round Two Began Tuesday Morning
March 11, 2008
Round two of this year’s FCAT testing began Tuesday morning in schools across North Escambia. Students in grades three through 10 will take the reading and math portions this week. Grades five, eight, and 10 will also take the science portion.
In a recent newsletter sent home to parents, Bratt Elementary offered several tips for parents and students for the all important FCAT test:
1. Get a good night’s sleep before the test. Staying up late at night increases anxiety, which interferes with clear thinking.
2. Eat for success. A hearty breakfast with seven to ten grams of fiber will keep your child from getting jittery from a sugar high or, later, bottoming out when the insulin goes up.
3. Relax. If your child is nervous, he may forget what he knows. Stretching and/or breathing deeply helps to focus the mind.
4. Wear Comfortable clothes. If your child is comfortable, he will be less distracted and better able to focus on the tasks given.
5. Drink plenty of water. Drinking plenty of water will help keep the body hydrated and alert.
Additional tips offered by Molino Park Elementary include:
1. Take your time so you can do your best.
2. Read directions carefully. Underline key words.
3. Look in your text for the answers and underline.
4. Check over your work when completed.
Students are not permitted to have any electronic device on their person or within reach during the test that reproduces, transmits, calculates or records. Prohibited items include cellphones. Any student who violates this policy will have his FCAT test invalidated.
Pictured above: Students at Byrneville Elementary School take part in a recent FCAT preparation session.
Investigative Series Part One: Allied Waste’s Days Might Be Numbered
March 10, 2008
Allied Waste’s days in North Escambia will come to an end soon if Emerald Coast Utilities Authority board member Larry Walker gets his way. Today, NorthEscambia.com begins a multi-part investigative series looking at Allied Waste and their service to the citizens of the North Escambia area. We will take a look at Allied’s service through comments both good and bad from dozens of Allied customers. And we will learn where Walker and ECUA stand on Allied Waste service in North Escambia.
The Background
Allied Waste currently has a contract that extends until 2010 for residential garbage pickup north of Ten Mile Road for 11,000 households. But ECUA district five board member Walker is pressing his fellow ECUA board members to end that contract sooner. Back in November, the board voted to purchase 11,000 automated collection garbage cans instead of their usual 2,000 per year in anticipation of possibly taking over the Allied contract.
ECUA has already purchased seven new garbage collection trucks in anticipation of taking over the north end household collection Allied Waste routes. If that does not happen, the trucks will be used to replace aging trucks in the ECUA fleet over the coming years.
“With added financial pressures of Allied’s commercial operation, it is even less likely than before that Allied will commit the additional resources that are needed,” Walker said in a letter to the ECUA board back in November. “I think it possible that Allied will choose to walk away from its Escambia County operations, both commercial and residential.”
So far, Allied has not walked away from their contract in North Escambia, and Walker continues to press the ECUA to pull the Allied contract.
The Request To Pull The Contract
At ECUA’s last board meeting in late February, Walker made what he termed a “spirited pitch for termination of Allied’s franchise by the ECUA”. But board members did not vote to pull Allied’s contract.
But Walker does not plan to give up on ending the contact. He has carefully documented the emails and phone calls he’s received about Allied’s service in North Escambia. NorthEscambia.com has obtained several of those documents, and we will share those comments, both good and bad, with you in this multi-part series.
The Trip to Walnut Hill
Back on February 23, Walker traveled from the area of the Scenic Hills Country Club on Nine Mile Road, to Walnut Hill, to Century, to the area of the Ashton Brosnaham Park off Chemstrand Road and then back to the area of the Scenic Hills Country Club.
Along the way, he noted Allied Waste containers that has missing or damaged lids. Such containers would be replaced by ECUA upon a request by one of their customers or when noticed by an ECUA driver.
In the document obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Walker notes that his trip was made on a Saturday, which is a not a typical Allied Waste pickup day. As a result, there were few containers still out by the roads he traveled. But he notated nearly two dozen cans with missing or damaged lids.
The Missing Lids and a Wooden Wheel
Cans in the 9900 block of Highway 97 in Walnut Hill, the 3300 block of Highway 4 and the 4600 block of Highway 4 were among the first he noticed with missing or damaged lids.
In the 5800 block of Vaughn Road, Walker spoke to residents with damaged cans. They reported that they are sometimes skipped all together by Allied, and they complained about loose trash blowing out of the Allied truck.
In the 2500 block of Highway 4, the resident also complained about missed pickups. In his notes, Walker wrote: “She stated that her container is blown over by speeding traffic; that, because of the missing lid, dogs and wild animals are able to pull garbage from the container and carry it as far as 300 yards downhill to a creek; and that she has to pick up garbage along the entire 300-yard stretch of hillside road in order to clean up the mess that is due to the missing lid.”
People in the 4500 block of North Century Boulevard complained that the lid had been broken off their can for one to two months. A resident in the 2900 block of North Century Boulevard complained that the can is always turned over. The wheel is missing from his can as is the lid, and he replaced it with a crude plywood wheel. On Roach Road, a resident told Walker that she has tried at least six times to call Allied about her container’s missing lid, but always she always receives a recorded message before being placed on an endless hold.
One resident on Ronda Road reported that the lid had been missing from their container for a year or more; another said their lid has been missing for months. Another on Orby Street reported called Allied for months about her can’s missing lid.
“I saw far more Allied containers with missing/broken lids than I had expected to see—and far more, I think, than I should have seen,” Walker wrote in his presentation to the ECUA board.
Your Thoughts, And the Series Continues
The complaints Walker has received about Allied Waste include far more than just broken or missing lids. On Tuesday, NorthEscambia.com will take look at some of those complaints. As this series continues, we will take a look at some of the positive comments about Allied Waste on Wednesday.
If you would like to add your comments about Allied Waste’s service (good or bad) in North Escambia, email your comments to news@northescambia.com. Please include your name and your address. In our story, will will only use the area in which you live (such as “the 13000 block of Highway 97″) and will not print your name. You can also send photographs of your can to the email address.
Escambia Adminstrators Name Students of the Month
March 10, 2008
The Escambia Association for Administrators in Education has named their Students of the Month for January. The association spotlights two students from each school. They are picked by the schools and receive certificates from the EAAE.
From the North Escambia area, the students selected as Students of the Month are:
- Bratt Elementary: Lydia Davis, kindergarten; Penny Banda, fifth grade.
- Carver/Century K-8: Mina Lamb, fifth grade; Takeya Williams, fifth grade.
- Molino Park Elementary: Tristen Jordan, first grade; Helen Kemp, first grade.
- Jim Allen Elementary: Edward Halfacre, fourth grade; Alonte Thompson, fourth grade.
- Ernest Ward Middle: Jessica Lowery, sixth grade; Brittany Thompson, eighth grade.
- Ransom Middle: Joshua McDaniel, seventh grade; Jackson Mann, eighth grade.
- Northview High: Olivia Godwin, 12th grade.
Member of Very First U.S. Navy Seal Team Buried In Molino Friday
March 9, 2008
An original member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs was laid to rest Friday in Molino. Chief Petty Officer James R. Perkins of Molino died February 29 at the age of 77.
Perkins joined the Navy in 1947 and became part of the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team. When the Sea, Air, Land Team, better known as the SEALs was formed in 1962 by then President John F. Kennedy, Perkins signed up and became an inaugural member of the force.
The U.S. Navy SEALs were established as a small, elite maritime military force to conduct Unconventional Warfare. They carry out the types of clandestine, small-unit, high-impact missions that large forces with high-profile platforms (such as ships, tanks, jets and submarines) cannot. SEALs also conduct essential on-the-ground Special Reconnaissance of critical targets for imminent strikes by larger conventional forces.
Perkins served three tours in Vietnam before retiring in 1970 and moving to Northwest Florida back in 1974.
Jimmy and Bobby Perkins, his two sons, also served in the military. Now four of his grandchildren are serving in the military…three in the Army and one in the Air Force. Another one is a deputy with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.
Perkins was laid to rest at the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church on Elizabeth Street in Molino Friday morning. His is survived by his wife Maxine Perkins, two siblings, five children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.