Lester Perugini
Lester Perugini
November 5th, 1932 – January 4th, 2024
*Author’s Note: The following excerpts in our “Life Stories” are from the Celebration of Life service for Lester Perugini for you to read, reflect, and pay your respects privately. It was an honor for me to learn about Les and help capture his story for his dear family and friends. He will be dearly missed by many.
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Where we are experiencing his loss- a missing piece- Les is experiencing completeness- wholeness. Les is home now in the loving embrace of our Lord in heaven. His journey is complete. He is reunited with his parents, John and Frances, his sister Emily, his brother Billy, his brother lost in infancy, and many close friends and relatives especially dear friends Dick, Binx, Abel, and Donnie, and Chester, whom he was friends with since he was 5. He is surrounded by love.
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Born in Kenosha, Lester graduated from Bradford High School in 1951 and spent a lifetime involved in this community. After proudly serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he met his lovely wife, Roberta, at a dance at the Italian American in 1955. October 19th, 1957, Lester and Roberta were united in marriage at Holy Rosary Catholic Church.
For 67 years, Les and Roberta (Bobbie) enjoyed a lifetime of love, friendship, and togetherness. They raised two wonderful children, David and Julie. Les adored his growing family and embraced his son-in-law Chris and daughter-in-law Joan and doted on his grandchildren. Les was still involved and babysitting at 90-years-old.
Les completed technical training with Motorola, DeVry, and Simplex Corporations. He worked at Kenosha Unified School District for 46 years and retired as Head Electronic Technician in 1995. Les worked very hard and had a wonderful career.
Daughter, Julie, said, “Dad fixed things for everyone. Les was everyone’s first call. Les can fix it. Les can check this out.” He didn’t throw anything away because he knew he could fix it. He had every cord and every tool you’d ever need, and he always bought two, just to be safe. He recently put in a new sound system at the Italian American Club, and at 90-years-old updated all the electrical in his granddaughter’s shop. Les was so kind and helpful and always did everything he could for his family, friends, and community.
Les loved to drive and travel. Les and Bobbie visited 49 states and Italy and enjoyed several cruises. They loved sharing adventures with their travel companions and dear friends, Chuck and Betty Aiello. Les also enjoyed flying and owned a plane with some partners. On Sundays they’d fly to breakfast and have a wonderful time. While it was fun for his wife and kids to say we flew in here for dinner, the family didn’t quite enjoy the small plane experience as much as Les did. He flew for a very long time, saying, “I can still pass the eye test!”
Les believed in being involved in the community, and he left the house every day to socialize or volunteer. Les and Bobbie did so much for Kenosha including volunteering at the Mini Medic program for elementary kids so they could learn about medical care and not fear going to the hospital.
Family was so important to Les, and he helped make every gathering special. Daughter-in-law Joan said, “Les made sure we had the best Christmas Eve’s ever!” Those special times will be forever cherished.
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Embrace and share with others the qualities of Les that you love and miss so much. Travel, spend quality time with your loved ones, take a drive, get involved in your community, maybe even learn how to repair electronics or fly a plane…and remember Lester.
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Lester Perugini will be forever loved and missed by his dear wife Roberta, his children David and Julie, his daughter-in-law Joan, his son-in-law Chris, his 3 grandchildren and their families, 2 great grandchildren, and many dear family members and friends.
Les, may you rest in eternal peace knowing you are dearly loved.
My sincere condolences and love, Holly