Nellie Hester Kennedy Perkins, 84, entered into rest on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at Methodist Hospital Northlake in Gary, Indiana after suffering a massive stroke.

Funeral services were held July 22 at Clark Road Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Louis Baker and Rev. Pharis Evans officiating. Interment followed in Evergreen Cemetery in Hobart, Indiana.

A native of Lincoln County, Nellie was born May 14, 1924 on the farm of Robert Lee and Nancy Hogan Colvin, White Rock. She was the granddaughter of the late Jerry and Susy Jacobs and Hight and Annie Kennedy of Lincolnton. She was educated at White Rock Public School under the capable instruction of Professor C.V.A. Grier, she was tutored at the Crawfordville home of Alexander H. Stephens.

Mrs. Perkins was a longtime resident of Gary, Indiana, having left Lincoln County around 1940. In Gary she married Ivory Perkins, Sr. and was a beloved wife, a loving mother and homemaker. She and her husband had 15 children; they were a close family. She was a faithful member of the Mother's Board and Usher Board of Inspirational Community Center Ministries in Gary.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Doyle and Fannie Kennedy; husband, Ivory Perkins Sr.; daughters, Shirley Roby and Patricia Perkins Williams; grandsons, Melvin Perkins, Leonard Scott and Kenneth Jones; step-mother, Mary Kennedy; brothers, Walter Lee, Billy, Ben and Roy Kennedy; sisters, Grace Kennedy Booker and Lennie Kennedy Hardnett.

Survivors include her children, Roger (Leath) Kennedy of Anniston, Ala., Rita (Ronald) Hayes of East Chicago, Ill., Irene Perkins Stringer, Linda (Curtis) Vanzant, Diane Perkins Hamilton, Lorraine Perkins Scott, Kennedy (Elizabeth) Perkins, Silas Perkins, Terry Perkins, all of Gary, Ivory (Rachael) Perkins Jr. of College Park, Ga., Pearline (James) Bean of Burnsville, Minn., Helen Perkins (Gregory) Hamilton of Gary, Evangelist Edward (Lena) Perkins of South Bend, Ind.; two sisters, Hiawatha Kennedy Jones and Juanita Kennedy, both of Atlanta, Ga.; sister-in-law, Laura Bell Kennedy of Lincolnton; 51 grandchildren; a special grandson, Torlando (Suzette) Childress of Columbia, S.C.; 36 great-grandchildren, 9 great-great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.