|
Katherine L. Perkins
Mrs. Katherine L. Perkins, Early-Day Nome
Doctor, Dies
Mrs. Katherine L. Perkins, 92 years old, a
University of Michigan medical graduate who delivered one of the first white
babies born in Nome at the turn of the century, died in a rest home here after a
long illness.
Mrs. Perkins was the widow of Colonel William T. Perkins, former University of
Washington regent and Alaska and Northwest business leader. He died in 1947, a
week after he and his wife celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.
Born in Denison, Iowa, Mrs. Perkins and her husband were married after they were
both graduated from the University of Michigan in 1884. He was a law graduate.
The Perkinses practiced their respective professions in Bismarck, North Dakota
before Colonel Perkins, a colonel in the North Dakota National Guard, went to
the Klondike in the gold rush of 1898.
Mrs. Perkins waited in Seattle while the colonel prospected unsuccessfully for
gold. In 1900, they went together to pioneer in Nome.
The Perkinses operated a general store in that Alaskan village, and Mrs. Perkins
put her medical training to use whenever it was needed.
They returned to Seattle in 1908 to make their home. They later traveled to
Siberia and South America to develop trade, mining and timber ventures. Colonel
Perkins also organized banks at Roy, Pierce County; Oakville, Grays Harbor
County; West Seattle and Kirkland.
Mrs. Perkins, who had abandoned her medical career when she came to Seattle, was
a member and past president of Chapter A. P. E. O. Sisterhood. She was a member
of the Woman’s Century Club.
Funeral services will be held at 4 o’clock tomorrow in the Butterworth Chapel. A
nephew, C. F. Kuehnle, Winnetka, Illinois, arrived in Seattle less than an hour
after Mrs. Perkins’ death.
Source: Seattle Times, Monday, March 20, 1950
|
