Roger D. Perna

Roger D. Perna, 76, of Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away on Wednesday, July 20,2022.

Roger was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania to Michael and Rita (Kocher) Perna on June 23,1946.

He grew up in Mount Rainier, Maryland until the age of 10, at which time his family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland.

Early in his youth, Roger showed a keen propensity for sports. He was as comfortable holding a bat as he was a football or golf club or throwing an opponent on a wrestling mat. By high school, he decidedly knew that he wanted to be a Physical Education teacher, so he majored in PE and played football at both Montgomery Junior College and the University of Maryland at College Park; he later earned his Master’s Degree at UVA (University of Virginia). Teaching PE is exactly what he did for 32 years with Arlington Public Schools in Virginia. During his tenure there, he also coached football, track and field, and baseball. Additionally, he coached his children’s basketball and softball teams, and taught them and many other youth how to swim as the manager of the Arlington Forest pool. Weekends and summers found him out on the golf course with friends and colleagues, a leisure activity he continued for many years after he moved to Cincinnati, playing most of the Hamilton County golf courses.

He moved to Cincinnati upon his retirement from teaching in 2001 in order to live closer to his wife’s parents; to keep an eye on things and assist them as needed. Three years later they moved her parents in with them and Roger became their primary caretaker since his wife was still teaching full time, a role he fulfilled until both parents passed. This was a role he willingly assumed because of his kind and loving heart and out of his great love for his wife. As he often said, they were of “one heart and one mind”.

Roger was a man of many passions, and the one nearest and dearest to his heart was that of service to his church and community. During the time he was a member of First UCC, he was actively involved in a number of things to include serving on the Stewardship and Mission committees. Later, when he joined Grace Episcopal Church, he served as the Treasurer for a number of years, followed by a term as Senior Warden. Additionally, he was always ready to lend a helping hand in cooking and serving Community Meals hosted by the church. While at Grace, Roger pursued another of his great loves: Bible study. He enrolled in and completed the four-year EFM (Education For Ministry) course offered at Grace. Four times!!! After taking a brief hiatus from church activities to care for his wife after her stroke, he resumed his love for church and community in 2016 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, where he attended Bible study, helped cook and serve meals for IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network), and tutored Latino children in the VEIL (Vida Eterna Iglesia Luterana) program on Sunday afternoons and during their summer sessions.

When Roger developed an interest in something, he pursued it with great vigor and enthusiasm. Music was one of his loves, and he enjoyed a rich variety of genres. As a young man he played guitar, a hobby he later shared with his kids. More recently he enjoyed researching and listening to various jazz musicians. He further enjoyed researching and sampling quite a wide variety of whiskeys! Scotch from the Highland region was his whiskey of choice. He’d watch YouTube videos of whisky reviews, all the while taking copious notes. This was followed by additional Internet research, including the liquor store location that carried that particular one. Then off he’d whisk his wife on a “field trip” to fetch said whisky no matter the distance or state for that matter. He had a similar obsession with BBQ, and there were no limits to how far he would drive for a good BBQ meal including throughout Ohio and Kentucky, South Carolina and Colorado. Finally, Roger was a voracious reader of history, sports, theology, and some fiction. But undoubtedly, more than everything, he truly enjoyed his family. He was so very proud of his son and daughter and often remarked about what fine people they were and what good parents they and their spouses were. And he loved his daughter-in-law and son-in-law as much as his own. His four granddaughters were his joy and the light of his days. He never failed to inquire what was going on in their lives, and even scheduled some trips around their sports teams’ events and ballet performances. Fortunately, he was able to attend his oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in Charleston this past June, followed by a trip a couple of weeks later to visit his sister and her family in Annapolis. These family visits, and that of his daughter in May after his cardiac procedures, did much to lift his spirit and revitalize him.

Roger and his wife were also very devoted to rescuing cats and dogs; they rescued as many as they could comfortably manage and give the needed love and affection. There is a certain golden retriever who is especially excited to be reunited with his dad, as his dad is with him. Awarded “The Friendliest” in high school, Roger will long be remembered for his infectious laugh, his wonderful sense of humor, his kind and generous heart, and his love for family and friends, his many beloved pets, and God.

Roger is survived by his loving wife, Belinda (Shenk) Perna, and his son and daughter and their spouses, Vincent Perna (Jeannette Willis), Folly Beach, South Carolina, and Rebecca Loughlin (Joseph D. Loughlin), Longmont, Colorado. He was the proud grandfather of Camille Perna, Lily Perna, Maya Loughlin and Kiera Loughlin. He is also survived by his brother and sister and their spouses, Michael Perna (Heath Dillard), New York, New York, and Elizabeth Leventry (Fred Leventry), Annapolis, Maryland. He is further survived by two nieces and a nephew and their families.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at a later date TBD at First United Church of Christ, 5808 Glenview Avenue. Cincinnati, OH, 45224.