Ute V. Perkins Descendants Make Donation To School

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The library at Ute Perkins Elementary School received a generous donation of books and gift cards last week to enhance the collection and programs at the library. And the donation was given by a group of descendants of none other than Ute V. Perkins himself.

On Friday morning, June 9, a group of four women, who were all great-granddaughters of the Moapa school’s namesake, arrived to present the gift of more than $700 in gift cards and donated books to Perkins principal Hal Mortensen and assistant principal Marianne Ekenstam.

Included in the group were Candy Terry, Robyn Stringham, Stacy Miller and Tracy Overlade; all of whom had travelled from their homes spread throughout Utah to make the presentation.

In an interview with The Progress, the ladies explained that they were four sisters, children of Merial “Perk” Overlade, granddaughter to Ute Perkins.
“Her name was Merial but she didn’t like that name,” said Stringham. “She only went by Perk throughout her life which, of course, was from her maiden name.”

In November, Perk passed away at the age of 98. She had asked her daughters to not make much fuss over a funeral. So instead of people sending flowers, the family decided to ask loved ones and family members to donate library books. With 19 cousins and other family members, people responded by donating a large number of books and cash donations for books.

Perk grew up in Moapa and was the daughter of Gene and Ella Viola Perkins. Her father was killed in a water wheel accident in 1932 when Perk was only 8 years old. Ella Viola, who was a teacher, was then left alone to raise their three children during the Great Depression.

Perk followed her mother’s footsteps and became an educator. “Our mother spent most of her career as an English teacher,” Stringham added. “So education was very important in our family. When she passed, we knew we wanted to do something with books.”

After the funeral last year, the women began looking for a school to help with the gathered donations. Their thoughts natrually were drawn to the humble Moapa school named after their great grandfather.

“This school seemed like a sensible choice to make the donation,” Stringham saidy.

Mortensen expressed appreciation for the generous gift and said that the school was a good choice for the donation. “Although the times have changed and there is a different generation, we still have a lot of poverty,” he said. “We have a strong population of Native Americans from the reservation and Hispanics who attend the school, many of whose families are struggling.”

Among the books left for the Perkins school library was a volume of history about Ute V. Perkins, written by one of his descendants.
“Of all places, we thought that this school library should have a copy of this book,” Stringham said.
Ute V. Perkins was born in St. George in 1870 and moved to Moapa Valley with his father at ten years of age. As an adult, he was instrumental in forming Educational District #1 which governed and administered the schools in both the Moapa Valley and the Virgin Valley. He also served on the school board for many years, part of the time as its President.

“Because of his pioneer-era upbringing he had very little formal school himself,” Stringham said. “So providing a quality education to children of the valley was important to him.”