George Holding: “On New Year's Day, we mourned the loss of a great lady, Barbara Stockton Perry. Today I rise to celebrate Barbara's 89…”

“On New Year's Day, we mourned the loss of a great lady, Barbara Stockton Perry. Today I rise to celebrate Barbara's 89 years of life that she devoted to her Christian faith, to her family, and to her community. Barbara was born on November 3, 1926, in the town of Franklin, which is a small North Carolina mountain community that is tucked away under the Great Smoky Mountains. Though the population was very small, Barbara had a large personality and a keen mind. She was the valedictorian of Franklin High School in 1943, and she graduated cum laude from Brenau College in 1947. {time} 1030 She then went on to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill School of Law. She was the only woman in the class of 1950, and she was a member of the law review as well. This was classic Barbara, distinguishing herself as a highly intelligent woman who was not afraid to break glass ceilings. Barbara's first position out of law school was as assistant legal counsel to the Belk Stores Corporation in Charlotte. Then, after marrying Warren Perry in June of 1951, she moved to Kinston, North Carolina, with him and became a partner at Perry, Perry and Perry law firm. There, she became involved in the State bar and the local bar and was named to the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association. Community service was important to Barbara.…”