Ed & Susan Perry

Susan Lynn Perry  (November 22, 1964 – August 10, 2026)

Susan Lynn Perry was born Susan Fine on November 22, 1964 in Wichita, Kansas,  the second child of Norman Fine and Norma Jean Fine. Raised with a Jewish upbringing, she later developed Christian sympathies fostered through friendship and her selfless, unassuming temperament enabled her to cultivate many rewarding friendships that invigorated every step she took through life. Attending Southeast High School, she easily established lifelong connections and the memories she made as a pom-pom girl and the spontaneity and enthusiasm resulting from it stretched onward throughout her entire life. Having lost a close classmate to cancer before her high school graduation and her brother Scott to a tragic motorcycle accident when she was just 22, she was no stranger to either loss nor the seemingly unfair impermanence that we are each invariably saddled with. Yet, as a quote she often kept as a reminder on her bathroom billboard suggests, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” She gracefully took each day as it came and conducted herself with both the flexibility of an unpledged tomorrow and a remarkable insight for the future consequences of decisions made today. Upon graduating from Southeast in 1983, she spent many of her young adult years working in various roles at Target stores before stumbling on her mainstay profession as a surgical technologist. It was in the midst of this transitional phase that Susan was able to reconnect with Edward and marry him in May of 1986. Having always been the type of person to be able to withstand a busy schedule, there were several intermittent years during and after this career change while working in which she ventured down a consideration of other tentative paths via college enrollment before electing to remain in healthcare. As a diligent and organized employee, she knew how to put her best foot forward with a positive attitude and self-assurance to leave no stone unturned. Many of those traits were not left behind at the door every shift she clocked out from, but embodied as a mother, wife, and close friend to those who knew her generous spirit and the effusive, upbeat meter she chose to synchronize it to every day she could. Throughout the years as a family, she joyously committed herself to any and every possible errand or extracurricular and provided a consistent, unwavering devotion to both Ed and Nate and also extended family. Many that knew her would attest to very few people that could be relied upon as continually as Susan at both a professional and personal level. In her spare time, she could be found partaking in outside activities such as gardening/plant care, sporadic pickle-ball sessions, or enjoying the serenity of a quiet stroll on her bike or early-morning game of Solitaire with coffee. She also enjoyed dance-floor outings with her coworkers and playing poker with “her boys” Ed and Nate, having also won a Texas Hold’em tournament in her 40’s and a bad beat jackpot in her 50’s. Whatever the activity or who she was grateful to experience it with, Susan knew how to balance responsibility and fun and uplift everyone fortunate enough to be alongside in the process.

Edward Michael “Mike” Perry (April 10, 1965 – August 11, 2026)

Edward Michael Perry was born on April 10, 1965 in Wichita, Kansas (the second child as well) of Edward Nelson Perry Jr. and Sharon Adamy (then Sharon Perry) . Growing up on the east side of Wichita, Edward’s inquisitive and cerebral nature spanned across many different domains and he enjoyed a variety of athletic and artistic pursuits. Having also been a Southeast Buffalo from 1979 to 1983, he was fortunate enough to partake in youth soccer, enjoy skiing up and around the icy slopes of Colorado’s mountains, as well as participate in golf and tennis with his friends and classmates. Exposed to the rugged and raucous nature of the rockabilly music from the 50’s, Edward acquired an immersive interest in playing both stand-up and electric bass guitar. A variety of influences such as the Stray Cats and later on bands like the Who drove Ed toward an inclination to pursue the prospect of performing with a variety of groups, notably in a power trio known as the Graveltones. After developing a lifelong work ethic through part-time jobs while attending Southeast, he received his GED in 1983 and briefly moved to Venice Beach, California. Reconnecting with Susan, a classmate he knew prior, would ultimately drive Edward back to Wichita over the course of several months of long-distance correspondence. Marrying in May 1986 at Naftzger Park, they would embark on a life course tethered together that would prove to withstand any storm and surmount any challenge. Exposed to and falling in love with the theoretical aspects of computer programming, Edward would ultimately re-enroll at Wichita State University, which he had attended previously, to attain a degree in Computer Science and subsequently develop a career in software engineering spanning over three decades. Regardless of the individual task or project at hand, his organizational, leadership, and problem-solving capacities paired together well enough for him to succeed at anything for which he could find enough forbearance and tolerance of unforeseen obstacles. Alongside his role at Bombardier Learjet as a software developer, Ed also found time to enrich his family with opportunities such as traveling interstate on a regular basis for Pokemon Trading Card game tournaments, coaching and officiating recreational sports, and passing down a generational affinity for board, puzzle, and strategy games. He loved various genres of music and never ceased adding to an expansive library comprising hundreds if not thousands of albums from a vast array of artists. Ed’s creative proclivities even afforded him the opportunity to exercise his own interpretation of both physical and digital design, constructing ornate fractal designs (including one published in a fractal calendar) composed of recursive mathematical functions and fashioning clay beads resembling those common among African tribes. Above all else, Edward was a man of eclectic interests and talents over his lifetime, devoted to the people whose company he cherished while retaining and preserving for himself that which gave him happiness and fulfillment of their own accord.

Susan and Edward were very different people to a considerable degree, but they formed an inseparable bond when taking life by the horns and experiencing all it had to offer together. Susan is preceded in death by her parents, Norman and Norma Jean Fine; brothers, Scott Fine and James Michael Bishop. Ed is preceded in death by his father, Edward Perry, Jr. They are survived by their son, Edward Nathan “Nate” Perry; Mike’s mother and step-father, Sharon and Earl Adamy; Mike’s sister, Julie Perry; Mike’s aunt, Charlotte; Mike’s cousin, Demien.

A Memorial Service celebrating the lives of both Mike and Susan will be held at 2:00 pm, Sunday, August 23, 2026, at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary. The service will be live streamed and can be viewed by clicking “Watch” below.

While many more memories were likely yearned for and they were taken too soon, they continue on both in spirit and each individual relationship they will be remembered within. As dogs were near and dear to the Perrys’ hearts, donations can be made to the Kansas Humane Society in the rejoicing of their lives.