Ann Eberhart Hillier Perkins

Ann Eberhart Hillier Perkins, was born in South Bend, Indiana on October 31st, 1924. She is the daughter of Carol Elisabeth Eberhart Hillier and Samuel Dale Hillier. Ann died of heart failure at home in Yreka, California on November 7th, 2021. She was in the presence of three of her children and her daughter-in-law. A week earlier, she celebrated her 97th birthday with unabashed delight to blow out candles on a three-layer chocolate cake she helped make. Ann was raised in Mishawaka, Indiana. Her great great grandparents were early settlers in Mishawaka, making Ann the 5th generation. Ann grew up with her parents surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. When Ann was 13, her sister, Elisabeth Ellen, died unexpectedly at age 10. As a late teen, Ann worked at the "Ball Band" plant in the chemistry department. She attended Purdue University to study Home Economics, then studied a year at UCLA, finally moving to Simmons College in Boston to study retail fashion in the footsteps of her father. During WWII she worked in the Red Cross Motor Corps, and in the summer of 1944, she worked in Washington, D.C. as a decoder. While living in Boston, she met "the grey-haired ensign." Five months later, on April 26th, 1946, Ann and Ensign James Glidden Perkins of Denver, Colorado were married in her parents' home on Edgewater Drive in Mishawaka. Ann was an energetic community member wherever she lived. At Purdue University, she began her lifelong association with Kappa Kappa Gamma. As an adult in South Bend, she was an active member of the Literary Club, where her grandmother Hillier was one of the founders. She was a member of the Antiquarian Society, the PEO, a Board member of the South Bend History Museum, and a bank board trustee. She exercised at Health and Lifestyle gym with the same group of friends for over 20 years. When she moved to Yreka at age 93, she became the fourth generation family member at the local YMCA. In Ann Arbor, she spent 30 years raising her six children and still managed to engage with International Neighbors, Planned Parenthood, Meals on Wheels and Parent Teacher Organizations among others. Ann was also quick to help friends with both fun and difficult life events. Her love of the arts, history, and music were infectious. She exchanged books with family and friends for decades. She loved the South Bend Symphony. Taking family and friends to the Chicago Art Institute, Museum of Science and Industry, plays, and to enjoy great food was a great joy for her. Throughout her life she loved to go for walks and picnics where she readily recognized trees, plants, and animals. Ann's love of the natural world stemmed from walks in the woods along the St. Joseph River and picnics near Diamond Lake in Cass County, Michigan with her grandparents and parents. Her love of picnics never waned! She accumulated favorite picnic spots in the greater Yreka area in her last four years. Ann's children and grandchildren embraced her passion for the natural world. A crafter and creative, Ann is known internationally for her rolls - dinner, rabbit, cinnamon, and Christmas trees. Her special chocolate sauce recipe lives on with her children and grand children, having renewed fame locally in Yreka. Children, grand children, great grand children, and friends were regularly part of the kitchen scene painting cookies, learning to beat egg whites into peaks, and once in a while sneaking a swipe of frosting or a just-baked cookie. Across her lifetime she needlepointed, taught decoupage, knitted, and created paper quilled scenes. She was really good with detail. Twice she knitted thread onto two straight pins for a quilled figure to hold. Ann's curiosity was insatiable. She loved learning and was ready for new adventures throughout her life. At Purdue she was the only woman in the glider club. She also took flying lessons, soloed, and got her pilot's license. She loved to travel at home and abroad, often seeking out the back roads as well as the eateries and bookshops local people frequented. She even made her move to Yreka, at age 93, into an adventure in living. In keeping with her love for life, she made wonderful new friends and explored the back roads of Siskyou County. At age 95 she started writing a book with a daughter. Her energy did not abate. Family, with a broad definition, was the pulse of her life. Ann and Jim treasured and marveled at their life with their six children: Ellen Elizabeth Perkins Arnold, deceased November 3rd, 2006 (David), Nancy Carol Perkins Kemmitt (William), James Hillier Perkins (Marcia Cushman), Sarah Frances Perkins (Pamela Kaye), Samuel Lewis Perkins, and Martha Glidden Perkins (E. John Helm). Ann and Jim truly adored their 11 grand children and their 24 great grand children. Ann's husband, Jim Perkins, died February 8th, 2008, at age 84. A celebration of Ann's life will be held in the Mishawaka-South Bend area in the spring of 2022. To leave an online condolence or to share a memory, please visit https://www.girdnerfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/obituary-listings Donations in Ann's honor can be sent to a charity of your choice or to: Madrone Hospice https://madronehospice.org/home/donate/ South Bend History Museum https://www.historymuseumsb.org/support-us/giving-to-the-museum/ Fernwood Botanical Garden https://www.fernwoodbotanical.org/donate Stable Hands, therapeutic horsemanship https://www.stablehands.org/donate

Ann Eberhart Hillier Perkins

October 31, 1924 - November 7, 2021