Hilda Guidry Perrin

Kaplan—Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at Vincent Funeral Home in Kaplan honoring the life of Mary Hilda Guidry Perrin (Hilda), 97, who died Friday, March 2, 2024 at Pelican Pointe Healthcare and Rehabilitation. She will be laid to rest at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cemetery with Deacon Bryan Istre officiating the services. Pallbearers will be Shane Perrin, John Perrin, Donald Perrin, Jr., Jeremy Morvant, Lucas Abshire, and Derrick Overley.

The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home in Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Thursday, March 7, 2024 from 9:00 AM until the services begin at 2:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 10:30 AM.

While many of us knew her in her Golden Years, Hilda was once a young girl. Born on January 5, 1927, her father was a farmhand, and she helped him pick cotton and potatoes. Her favorite actress was Doris Day and her favorite movie was Mrs. Miniver . While she enjoyed music, she wasn’t a fan of that Bugle Boy from Company B. and much preferred the slower “Begin the Beguine.” She enjoyed reading Huckleberry Finn and listening to the radio. She preferred Perry Como over Frank Sinatra, and Katherine over Audrey Hepburn.

As a young girl during WWII, she did her part on the home front rolling bandages with the local Red Cross. She was pen pals with a few local soldiers fighting in the war, one of which would become her husband, Carl. Set up by Carl’s mother, they got to know each other through their letters. They were married on December 30, 1945 and were together for 32 years, until Carl’s death in 1977 and together they had seven children. She spent 50 years working at hardware stores and enjoyed interacting with her customers.

As a woman, she loved Sandra Bullock, Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, and The Golden Girls. She liked Betty Boop, cooking for others, making her special peanut butter candy, and spending time with her numerous grands and great-grands. Some of her favorite memories are from camping with her family, and she especially loved it when the family got together and played volleyball in her son, Wayne’s, backyard.

Ever the fireball, she was outspoken and stood her ground until the very end. Stubbornly independent, she lived at home until her 97th birthday. Her long life was filled with triumph and tragedy, and she bared more loss than a human should be capable of surviving. A devout Catholic, Hilda loved the Lord with all her heart. A rosary was never far from her, and she prayed daily. We find comfort in knowing that she is with her heavenly father and is now reunited with the many loved ones she lost here on Earth.

This matriarch leaves behind a beautiful legacy in her family and she will be deeply missed.

She is survived by her son, Allen Wayne Perrin of Kaplan; her daughters, Kathy Perrin Morvant of Maurice, and Mary Perrin Abshire and her husband, Dennis of Kaplan; 19 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren; 12 great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Althee Guidry and Azelie Richard Guidry; her five brothers and two sisters; her husband, Carl R. Perrin; her three sons, Carl James (Jimmy) Perrin, Donald Lee Perrin, Sr., and Jude Perrin; her daughter, Carleen Perrin Overley; her grandson, Joshua Breaux; her great-grandson, John David Perrin; and her daughter-in-law, Joyce Marceaux Perrin.

In lieu of flowers, Hilda's family asks that donations be made in her honor to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by visiting www.stjude.org/donate.