Sydney Perry

Funeral service for Sydney Perry age 74, of Indiahoma, was at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 13, 2024, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 910 N.W. 38th Street, Lawton, with Rev. Dr. Sonja Tobey officiating. Graveside service followed in the Frederick Memorial Cemetery, on Saturday, at 2:00 p.m. Services are under the direction of Jackson Funeral Home of Frederick. Sydney passed away Sunday, April 7, 2024, at her daughter’s home in Lawton following complications from dementia. Her younger daughter Beth lovingly provided exceptional care during the last years of her life.

Sydney Jean Tompkins was born to Margaret Jane (Russell) and Raymond Owen Tompkins in Great Bend, Kansas; she was the oldest of three sisters who grew up in Santa Ana, California. Sydney prioritized education throughout her life and held degrees from the University of California, Irvine; Cal State Fullerton; and Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Her college career also included studying abroad at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Sydney met her husband, Kenneth Daryl Perry, at the University of Oklahoma when she was studying at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and he was studying for the bar exam after graduating law school. They married Oct. 7, 1979, and moved to his hometown, Indiahoma, where they raised their daughters.

Being Mama and Gingie were key roles and joys in Sydney’s life, and her daughters and grandchildren are assured of her great love for them all. That love was born of Sydney’s deep Christian faith that began in her youth and extended throughout her life. An active member of Indiahoma United Methodist Church before her diagnosis, Sydney served in many volunteer roles, including lay leadership, church secretary and “Grace Notes” newsletter editor.

In her professional life, Sydney blended her love of stories and helping people. She worked as librarian both for the Lawton Public Library and Indiahoma Public Schools. She also taught hundreds of students over the years, including through the German by Satellite program from Oklahoma State University she helped bring to the school during the 1990s.

Sydney is survived by her husband, Daryl; her sister, Susan Hart, of Birmingham, AL; daughters: Beth Perry of Lawton, and Mari Walker (Shawn) of Baton Rouge, LA; grandchildren: Owen Perry and Jane and Livia Walker; and many beloved extended family members and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her youngest sister, Sheryl Jane Tompkins.

The family wishes to thank Erica Ramirez and Denise Birge for their support and care in Sydney’s last years and Elara Caring in-home hospice in her last weeks. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Friends of the Lawton Public Library or Indiahoma United Methodist Church.