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In memory of

William "Bill" Farris Perkins

Berkeley, CA

November 7, 1932 - October 12, 2019

Nov 7, 1932 - Oct 12, 2019

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William “Bill” Farris Perkins, 86 (born Nardin, Oklahoma, Nov. 7, 1932), passed away peacefully on October 12, 2019, in Walnut Creek, California, after 15 years living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Bill, with his twin brothers, Paul and James, grew up in Denver, Colorado, after the family left the Oklahoma Dust Bowl behind. In 1946, when in 7th grade, Bill decided he wanted to become a tenor saxophone player after watching a big band performance in Denver. After High School, he began touring with traveling bands and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force (1951-53) to play in Air Force bands during the Korean conflict. He then moved further west to Los Angeles, where he met and married his first wife, Judy Thompson, and attended Los Angeles City College to continue his musical studies joining the college band and the Local 47 Musician’s Union.

Following “the work”, he headed to Las Vegas (1957-1960), performing in a variety of lounges and casinos, including the iconic Stardust Hotel, and started a family, with Tadd, Barry, and Jamie arriving two years apart. In 1960, he moved to San Francisco for the quality of life, West Coast Bebop jazz scene, and joined the Local 6 Musician’s Union. He played his favorite woodwinds; tenor, baritone and alto saxophones, bassoon, clarinet, and flute, in various nightclubs, hotels, jazz venues, recording studios for TV and film, and was a prolific arranger of jazz tunes.

Bill would graduate from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Music Education and obtain teaching credentials to instruct students in music and art in the San Francisco Public School system over the next 25 years. Concurrently, he played in Broadway musicals in Los Angeles and San Francisco at the Curran, Orpheum and Golden Gate Theatres for 35 years. There, in the orchestra pit, he met his second wife, Ellen Dessler, a very fine Cellist who retired after 40 years of teaching and playing in the theatres and the Oakland Symphony.

Bill enjoyed playing with the best Bay Area musicians, who with their families, would become lifelong friends - the list is too long to name them all. In 1979, he and his “San Franciscans,” best friend, Chuck Peterson, with Cal Lewiston, Al Plank, Dean Reilly, and John Markham, recorded the album, “The Other Bill,” to distinguish himself from the well-known Los Angeles tenor sax player, “Bill Perkins.”

Bill enjoyed art, particularly watercolor, cooking, reading, baseball, and spending time with his grandchildren, many who enjoy playing music, including his beloved saxophones.

Bill is survived by his wife of 43 years, Ellen, daughter Jamie, sons Tadd (Caroline) and Barry (Sarah), stepdaughters, Daphne (Geano), Judy (Daniel), Sarah Beth, and Katie, ten grandchildren (Christopher, Samuel, William, Eliza, Terry, Kirsten, Joshua, Amanda, Rebecca and Colt), brothers Paul (Irene) and James (Bonita), nieces, nephews, and extended family. Bill was predeceased by his father Farris and mother Mary.

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