Obituary of Ben PERRINE, Williamson & Franklin County, Illinois This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Susan Merrell ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ************************************************************************ Obituary clipping found among my grandmother and great grandmothers belongings. Obit of Ben Perrine Dated in ink as May 19, 1958?. Newspaper unknown but probably Johnston City or Marion Ben Perrine, 78, Johnston City, Suicide Ben Perrine, 78, prominent Johnston City resident, was found dead Monday afternoon in his home 308 West Eighth Street in that city, an apparent suicide. Perrine's body was discovered shortly before 4 pm Monday by Kenneth Willhite, a Johnston City postman, according to the Williamson County Coroner Adolph Fluck. Willhite was making deliveries on his mail route. A verdict of suicide was returned Monday night at an inquest conducted by Fluck at the Murman-Wilson funeral home in Johnston City. Perrine was said to have used a shotgun to kill himself and left a suicide note. The death was believed to have occurred sometime late Saturday or early Sunday morning. Fluck said the suicide note was dated Saturday but that Perrine had been seen alive late Saturday night and his bed had been slept in. Willhite discovered the body Monday afternoon when he went to the Perrine home to deliver mail. Fluck said Willhite saw Perrine lying on the living room floor, just inside the front door, which was open and investigated. Perrine's suicide shocked Johnston City, where he had been a lifetime resident and where he was a prominent citizen. He had managed the Stotlar- Herrin lumbar yard there for 40 years prior to his retirement Was Civic Leader A charter member of the Johnston City Rotary Club, he had served as president of the organization in 1956. He was a former member of the board of education, a member of the First Methodist Church in Johnston City. His wife, Jimmie, had broken her hip in a fall in February and had been an invalid since. Earlier a patient at Marion Memorial Hospital, she is now a patient at a nursing home in the St. Louis area. Perrine, who had been living alone since his wife's injury, was said to have been completing details to see his home in Johnston City and neighbors thought he had gone to St. Louis to obtain his wife's signature on papers. Perrine was said to have recently purchased a duplex apartment in the suburban St. Louis area and he and his wife were to share it with a daughter and son-in-law. Born west of Johnston City, Perrine had resided in the Johnston City area all of his life. His parents were Nathan and Sepronia Perrine, pioneer Williamson county settlers. Survivors besides his wife include two daughters, Mrs. Rudy Meyer, Valley Park Mo., Mrs. Edward C. Becker, Brownsville, Tex; a grandson, two brothers, Oscar Perrine of Greville and Carl Perrine of LeGrande, Ore. and Two sisters, Mrs. Nannie Felts, Marion; and Mrs. Lou Robertson, LeGrande Ore. The body will lie in state after noon Wednesday at the Murman-Wilson Funeral home in Johnston City. Funeral rites will be observed at 2 pm Thursday at the funeral home with interment to be at New Rosehill cemetery at Marion.