Lt. Colonel (Ret’d) Perry Foo died suddenly at his home in Los Angeles California on the afternoon of Friday 6th April 2012 at the
age of 64 years.
Perry is survived by his wife Dawn, his children Andrea, Alicia, Pauline and Joel, and by four grandchildren.
He grew up in Georgetown, was awarded a government scholarship to attend Queens College, then upon graduating in 1964, joined
the Teaching Service. Some of our readers may have first met him as students of Charlestown Government Secondary School
where he spent most of his teaching sojourn.
At that time, many young men and women were attracted to the fledgling Guyana Defence Force, seeing it as an ideal avenue for
service to the new nation and for personal advancement. Perry was to follow in the footsteps of teacher contemporaries like F. Gibbs, O. Hinckson, K. Ross and others, in seeking admission
to the Defence Force through its Officer Cadet Program, which he gained in 1970, attending Course 2 of the Guyana Defence
Force Officer Cadet Training School. Perry was to become a career soldier, advancing through the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant to
Lt. Colonel during his 20 plus years of service.
After retiring, Perry settled in California where he quickly established himself as a founder and leader of the west coast community
of ex soldiers of the GDF. His official designation at the time of his death was Secretary-General of the GDF Veterans of Los
Angeles. Last year June, Perry led the California delegation, which included Dawn and Asst. Secty-Gen Rannie Johnson (who will
now head the organization) to the XGDF NY 25th anniversary celebration here in New York, and spent an enjoyable week among
friends he would not have seen for a long time. Who was to know that within the year Perry would be making his final and
permanent “Fall Out” from among our ranks?