Donald Burgess Perkins of Nashua, NH, 82, died on Sunday June 19, 2022. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sheila Allen Perkins; his children, Scott B. Perkins, Hillary P. Gagnon, and MarcyKate Connolly; grandchildren Brady Gagnon, Ella Gagnon, Logan Connolly, and Xavier Connolly; and sisters Nancy Patterson and Janie Violette. He was born on February 13, 1940 in Maine, the son of Donald Oliver Perkins and Hazel Francis Burgess Perkins.
As a boy, Don spent his summers on a small family island in Casco Bay, Maine, and his love for the island and the ocean followed him into adulthood. He discovered his skill for engineering early on too, even building his own miniature Tesla coil when he was a kid. He spent his professional career as a computer engineer, working for various companies in southern NH and MA, with a significant portion of it employed as a defense contractor at Hanscom Air Force Base. In his free time, Don was an avid cross county skier, runner, bicyclist, and hiker, who competed in cross country skiing and finished the Boston Marathon multiple times (though on one memorable occasion he forgot to bring his shoes). His favorite place to hike was to the top of Mt. Monadnock to pick wild blueberries and bring home enough to fill the spare freezer, keeping his family in blueberry pies for months. Don was a dreamer with a passion for inventing, designing, and building. While not all his inventions worked, his family will always fondly remember his willingness to learn from those miscalculations, and his dedication to eventually finding a solution.
SERVICES: Visitation and funeral service will be held on Friday, June 24, 2022 from 1:00-3:00 PM, at the DAVIS FUNERAL HOME, One Lock Street in Nashua. The funeral service will begin at 2:00 PM. Interment is private. Family and friends are invited to attend. An online guest book is available at www.davisfuneralhomenh.com, (603-883-3401) “ONE MEMORY LIGHTS ANOTHER.”