Francis Swift Perry

Francis Swift Perry was born at Fairhaven on 6 October 1923, the son of Charles Franklin Perry Jr. and Rachel Winter Swift; the town recorded his birth that year. ^{[3] [5]} He grew up in Fairhaven, where the 1930 census found him at age 6, and in Newton, where the family lived by 1935. ^{[1] [2]}

He served in the Second World War with the 70th Reconnaissance Troop of the United States Army. ^[3] In January 1943 he graduated from the Armored Force School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. ^[6] After the war he married Eleanor L. Wall; they were married for 64 years. ^[3] He died suddenly at his home in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, on 5 June 2011, aged 87, and was buried with full military honors at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. ^{[3] [4]}

Family memory

After the Second World War he became a cotton broker, and in the early 1950s he moved the family to Houston, Texas. ^[7] After Houston the family settled in Framingham, Massachusetts, near Eleanor's sisters; their grandson remembers the in-ground pool in the back yard. ^[8] Later they lived in Westport, Massachusetts, then South Yarmouth. ^[8]

Open questions

• His birth date is settled by the Fairhaven town report, 6 October 1923; ^[5] FamilySearch's tree gives 1924.
• His Second World War service record: dates, rank and where the 70th Reconnaissance Troop served. ^[3]