Jerry Frank Perkins, beloved husband, father and friend, passed away May 31, 2008, at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital in Hood River, Ore., with family by his side. He was 80 years of age.

Jerry was born June 18, 1927, in Leroy, Kansas, but spent most of his life in California until moving with his wife, Maudie, to Hood River in 2006.

As a young man, Jerry was in the merchant marines and then was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War, where he served as a communication specialist.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Maudie Perkins, of Hood River; daughter, Peggy Allison, of Burns, Ore.; son, John Perkins, of Sacramento, Calif.; three grandchildren: Nicole Allison, Carrie Allison and Tracy Perkins; and sister, Barbara Leggett, of Santa Barbara, Calif. Jerry was preceded in death by his son, Gary, his parents and his three brothers.

He is also survived by Maudie’s two sons, Tim McNulty, of Hood River, and Pat McNulty, of Lake Arrowhead, Calif.

Jerry is interred at the Willamette Military Cemetery in Portland, Ore., where he was buried with full military honors.

Although Jerry moved to the Hood River community late in his life and with many health issues to battle, he found in this community the help he needed to live his last few years with a dignity and a quality of life that made him very thankful. For this support his family is truly grateful.

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson’s Tribute Center (Funerals, Receptions, Cremations), 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, OR 97031; (541) 386-1000. Please visit www.andersonstributecenter.com to view and print the obituary and sign the guest book for family.

Tom Hunter, 61, of Bellingham, Wash., died June 20, 2008, after battling Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. In words, through song and by candlelight, Tom’s loved ones said a final farewell Sunday at the First Congregational Church to the beloved pastor and musician. He had been hired as pastor of the church just prior to his diagnosis.

Described as a modern-day minstrel, Tom sang and wrote songs for more than 30 years. He used his songs and his music to help children, adults and educators learn, celebrate and otherwise tell the stories of life, both in Whatcom County and around the world.

The accomplished guitarist was best known for his 19-year run of Christmas Eve musical shows, which continued through 2005. He also shared his music with children in Whatcom County public schools for decades.

Friends described him as a man who gave freely of his time; who believed in bringing people together; who could entertain a crowd yet had a gift for truly seeing each person.

Tom filled his life, and those of his family, with music that he played and songs that he wrote. His family and friends said he worked hard to create a better future for children — whether by working with his wife, Gwen, to protect local watershed and forests or through a song he was working on, called “Dark Mountain,” about area environmental destruction.

Tom was a graduate of Amherst College and New York’s Union Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1972. Soon after, he started what would later become “God Talk,” an iconic Sunday radio show on San Francisco’s KGO Radio.

In the 1980s, he served as a part-time pastor at Lummi Island Community Church for five years. On April 13, Tom began a new adventure when he gave his first official sermon as pastor of Bellingham’s First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. In May he was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an extremely rare and incurable degenerative brain disorder that progresses rapidly.

Tom is survived by his wife, Gwen Alley Hunter, his son, Aeden, and daughter, Irene, all of Bellingham; his parents, Willard and Mary Louise, of Claremont, Calif.; his brother, Bill Hunter, and Bill’s wife, Sharon, and children, Laurel and Colin, of California; and Gwen’s brother, John Alley, his wife, Kathie, and their children, Katie Breshears and Matt Alley, all of Hood River, Ore.