With a very heavy heart, we share the news that Charles Perry died last night of a heart attack at age 70.  Charles has been a beloved member of King's Chapel for many years, a Junior Warden, frequent member of the Vestry, and Chair of many Committees. 

We hold in our prayers Charles' wife Adelaide Ketchum, and their three children, Nick, Laura and Mark, each of whom is in graduate school in other states.  We also hold in prayer all of you who join us in grieving Charles' death. We will miss him enormously.

At King's Chapel we've known Charles as a wise and compassionate leader, and a trusted and insightful friend. Charles was both a brilliant strategic thinker able to see the big picture, and an unfailingly kind man who patiently listened to us, with dignity and respect. For years, Charles served as a member of our prayer ministry, a group that daily offers confidential prayers for those facing hard times; to be held in prayer by Charles was a great gift.  Charles had a wonderful sense of humor, and enjoyed the gift of life, greeting us warmly when he ushered and raising a toast at our parties. When Charles led our services, we listened with care, because he read scripture and prayers as one trusting the larger story they told, of a better world that is possible. Charles spent his career seeking to build that world, through greater understanding of the complex, thorny international disputes that challenge peace. Through his international work, Charles has close friends all over the globe; they also give testimony to his gifts of grace and love. 

Charles has been bravely fighting a rare lung disease with which he was diagnosed over a year ago.  There is no known cure, and he entered into a clinical trial this summer. Charles had been receiving constant oxygen for the last several months, and was undergoing tests to determine whether he might be a candidate for a lung transplant. 

Charles was devoted to his family:  his beloved Adelaide, his dear life partner and friend; and his three children, whom he loved with his whole heart, and of whom he was enormously proud. 

A memorial service for Charles will take place at King's Chapel at a future time.