April 3, 2018

Arlene J. Perri, 83, Carbondale, died on Tuesday at Hospice of the Sacred Heart, Dunmore. Her husband, Donald “Zeke” Perri, died in 2012.

Born in Pleasant Mount, she was the daughter of the late Ellis and Eleanor Clark Thomas. When Arlene was 18 years old, she married Don and they settled in Carbondale a few years later. In 1961 they purchased what would become the family homestead, in which they raised five children.  After staying at home to raise their children, Arlene was employed for many years at Carbondale’s Old River Road Bakery and in later years by the Carbondale Area School District. Arlene was an excellent cook and took great delight in preparing a meal for a houseful of visitors. Her large family was always the center of her life. The family would like to thank the staff at Geisinger Community Medical Center and Hospice of the Sacred Heart for the compassionate care they provided to Arlene during her final week of life.

Surviving are: three sons, Donald J. Perri and wife, Nancy, Carbondale; Ronald G. Perri and fiancée Laurie Peterson, Honesdale; Thomas Perri and wife, Kellie, Towanda; two daughters, Cynthia Gillotti and husband, attorney James, Clark’s Green; Darlene Laney and husband, Millard, Bradenton, Florida; six grandchildren, four great grandchildren; a brother, David Thomas and wife, Cheryl, Pleasant Mount; sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

A prayer service was held on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. in Lawrence A. Gabriel Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc., 74 N. Main St. Carbondale. Entombment, Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery, Finch Hill.

Viewing was held on Friday, April 6, 2018, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.