Howard "Virgil" Perkins

Howard "Virgil" Perkins age 86 of Saint Petersburg, FL passed away on Tuesday, September 13th, 2016 at home surrounded by family and friends. Virgil was born in Tennessee and eventually moved to Ohio where he met his loving wife of 59 years, Mary Catherine Perkins. Later he moved his family to St. Petersburg, Florida. His wife and a son, Anthony Judd Perkins, preceded him in passing. Virgil is survived by his sons Howard Perkins of Ohio, Duane Perkins of Seminole, Keith Perkins of St. Petersburg, daughters Karen Perkins Hiznay and Candie Perkins of St. Petersburg. He is also survived by his granddaughters Tina, Tiffany and Samantha, grandsons Arthur, Joey, Keith, Jacob, Joseph, D.J., J.J., Michael and Noah. He has several great grandchildren, a sister Louise in Jellico, TN and numerous nephews and nieces. Virgil served in the US Army and US Air Force. He was stationed in Guam during the Korean War as a flight line mechanic and later at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio. After being honorably discharged from the USAF, he remained in Ohio, and owned the Montgomery County Tree Service. After moving to Florida, he was the long time owner of St. Petersburg Tree Service. Unknown to many people, Virgil was also an ordained Pentecostal minister. As part of his charity work, he sponsored several missions in Africa. In 1964 in Washington Township, just outside of Dayton, Virgil saved Mo the cat. Mo had been stuck in a tree for seven days. The fire department, the humane society and 2 other tree services had tried to get Mo but were unsuccessful. Virgil decided to give it a try. Virgil was successful where others had failed and rescued Mo who was joyfully reunited with his family. Virgil became a local celebrity with the local press and evening news shows. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 24th, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. at the Bay Pines National Cemetery, 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard, St Petersburg, FL.