Brian R Perry
Brian R Perry
Cedar Rapids
Brian Richard Perry, who passed away on October 15, 2024, at the age of 78, exemplified the quiet strength and understated conviction that characterized the best of America’s unsung contributors. Preceded in death by his wife of 38 years, Robin Perry (Bourret), Brian embodied a man whose deeds spoke louder than words—a man of few, carefully chosen words who demonstrated his love through action.
Brian was a man driven by a deep-seated belief in service to the “least of these,” a reference drawn from Matthew 25’s parable of the Sheep and the Goats. His life was forever altered by a mission trip to Haiti in 1978, where he saw firsthand the profound need and responded not with charity alone, but with ingenuity. Over the next three decades, Brian made more than 40 trips to that nation, each one a testament to his resolve to marry compassion with practicality.
An IBM service technician for 29 years, Brian possessed the rare ability to see a problem, break it down, and build a solution—whether it was mechanical, electrical, or humanitarian. This ability, honed through years of hands-on experience, found its highest expression in his work to create a sustainable ecosystem for a Haitian orphanage. His efforts, as modest as they were groundbreaking, began with the humble windmill.
Over two years, Brian crisscrossed Iowa, collecting windmill parts, which he crated and shipped to Haiti. But this was no simple act of charity. He took it upon himself to learn everything about fish farming and well drilling, envisioning an integrated system that harnessed the power of nature to serve human needs. From a deep water well, Brian pumped water into a tank stocked with tilapia, on top of which he built a chicken coop. His ingenious system allowed chicken feed and droppings to fall into the fish tank, providing nutrients for the fish. The nitrogen-rich water from the tank then irrigated the orphanage’s farm, producing vegetables, fish, eggs, and poultry that fed the children and provided surplus to sell in the local market.
This eco-system, conceived and constructed with the same meticulous care that Brian brought to all his endeavors, has now sustained the orphanage for over 35 years. It stands as a lasting legacy of a man who, in his unassuming way, left a mark far beyond his quiet life in America.
Brian is survived by his three children—Christopher, Blake, and Tasha—and ten grandchildren, all of whom inherit the example of a life lived in service to others.
A celebration of life will be held in the spring.