Betty Jane Perkes

Betty Jane Perkes, 95, of Breese, entered into eternal rest on Friday, February 28, 2025, at St. Joseph Hospital in Breese. She was born June 23, 1929, in Breese, the daughter of Frank A. and Pearl L., nee Schaubert, Schwarz. She married Raymond "Jupe" Perkes, Jr. June 9, 1949, at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese and he preceded her in death on June 17, 1997.

Betty is survived by her two daughters, Diane Palas of Trenton, IL and Kim Perkes of Austin, TX; her grandson, Sean (Becca) Palas of Searcy, AR; great-granddaughter; Remi Palas; a sister, Joann (Schwarz) Barnes of Chesterfield, MO; and a sister-in-law, Mary Ann Perkes.

In addition to her parents and husband, Betty was preceded in death by her son-in-law, Joe Palas; her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Raymond and Adeline "Honey", nee Schleuter, Perkes, Sr.; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Laverne & Annette Perkes, Adrienne & Tom Wobbe; William "Bill" Perkes, Eileen & Raul "Mac" McCoy, Donald "Duck" & Karla Perkes, and Gerald "Jerry" Barnes.

Betty graduated from St. Dominic High School and has been a life long member of St. Dominic Church. In her early years, Betty worked for the shoe company in Aviston and in her later years, she worked for the Clinton County Tax Assessor's office at the courthouse in Carlyle until she retired. 

After retirement, Betty traveled to China, Hong Kong, Russia, England, and Hawaii. She always remarked that Hawaii was as close to heaven as any one could get. When not traveling, she and the "Golden Girls" (as we dubbed them), met every Wednesday at Hardee's for coffee chit chat. While there, this group would decide what they were going to do the rest of the day. After all, Wednesday was girls day out. They would go shopping because somebody always had clothing to return at Chico's or Dillard's; or perhaps Betty would drive them to Josephine's Tea Rooms in Godfrey, IL for lunch; or maybe they would go to Eckert's to buy strawberries, peaches, watermelons, apples, etc. On Tuesdays, they met for lunch at the local Mexican restaurant and imbibed on dollar margaritas. Some of them made it to the food. There was no limit for these go-getters.

Betty was the kindest, caring, thoughtful, fun loving person in the world. Always a smile on her face; she would do anything for anybody and she did. She cooked like no other, with the exception of dumplings. Any St. Louis Cardinal could have hit them out of the ball park. Most of all, she was loved by many and earned the Best Mother of Every Year award.

Betty was a stalwart St. Louis Cardinals Fan. She and her many long time friends never missed celebrating opening day in downtown St. Louis. These fun loving ladies attended more ball games than Fred Bird. In her golden years, she never missed a game on TV to include the pre game show and post game show, then she would call another Cardinals fan, and they would re-hash the entire game to include a fastidious critique of the manager. The highlight of Betty's life was attending a World Series Game at Busch Stadium, thanks to a very dear friend.

A memorial mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese with Rev. James Nall officiating. Burial will follow at St. Dominic/St. Augustine Cemetery in Breese.

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the time of services on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Breese.

In lieu of flowers or other items, please consider a memorial to the Clinton Manor Activity Fund as they were very special people to Betty, and will be received at church or Nordike Funeral Home, 150 N. Clinton St., Breese, IL 62230 who is serving the family.