Charles Thomas "Sarge" Perrigo

Charles Thomas "Sarge" Perrigo, 77, of Conway, Arkansas, died Friday, June 29, 2012, at the VA Hospital in Little Rock and has lived at the NLR Veterans Nursing Home for the last 3 years. Charles was born December 23, 1934, in Kewanee, Illinois, a son of the late Albert I. and Augusta (Buyigne) Perrigo. He was also preceded in death by a daughter, Laurie Ann Perrigo, and a number of brothers and sisters. Mr. Perrigo was a graduate of Weathersfield High School in Kewanee, attended Northwestern University in Illinois and had played football during high school, college and some in the Army. Retired United States Army after 22-plus years, Charles had attained E8 (Master Sergeant) status, and had also been a Drill Sergeant. He received many awards and medals, some being the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. He also taught military courses at UCA, and later worked as the Property Book Officer for the ROTC Department at UCA. He was a Christian. He held memberships in the LaSill Optimist Club in Lawton, Oklahoma, and the Conway Morning Optimist Club. Charles was a past distinguished governor of the Arkansas District of Optimist International. Charles enjoyed collecting pins and patches from both the Military and Optimist Clubs and had thousands. Survivors are his wife of 38 years whom he married over the phone from Korea while she was in Kansas, Barbara Perrigo of Conway, Ark.; children, David and Jeff Perrigo both of Conway, Ark.; Tom Castellani and Brenda Castellani of Girard, Kansas; Mark Castellani of Vilonia; Robert Castellani of Pittsburg, Kansas and Debra Fedricci of Bentonville, Ark.; a sister, Eulila Perrigo of Illinois; 17 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a number of nephews and nieces. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m., Thursday, at the funeral home. Funeral will be 10 a.m., Friday, July 6, 2012, in the chapel of Griffin Leggett Conway Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Crestlawn Memorial Park, under the direction of Griffin Leggett Conway. 501-327-5000. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Optimist International Foundation, 4494 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri 63108 or online at http://oifoundation.org/oldsite/home.htm. Please send Barbara and the entire family messages of love, encouragement and memories to Charles online guestbook at www.griffinleggettconway.com, where you may also see his Enduring Memories online tribute.