Stewart Edmond Perry

(3/8/1928 – 8/7/2019)

Stewart E. Perry, 91, broadly active social scientist, died of cancer in Sammamish, WA on August 7, 2019 with his wife Victoria by his side.

Born in Paris, France, of American parents working abroad, Stewart worked primarily in Washington D.C., San Francisco, CA, Cambridge, MA, and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

A graduate of Kenyon College, Stewart later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His first two publications illustrated a wide scope of interests: The Human Nature of Science (a study of psychiatrists in a research hospital) was followed by a work on garbage men, San Francisco Scavengers. In this period, he also produced two monographs on the experiences of children in tornado disasters for the National Research Council.

In 1967, Stewart joined President Johnson’s War on Poverty to design programs of support for low-income community organizations. From this time onward, he was primarily a consultant to those organizations on their business, housing and social projects. He worked in both Canada and the U.S., receiving recognition in both countries. He published an early work, Communities on the Way, in what was then a new field of Community Economic Development (CED). At the time of his death, Stewart was co-authoring a book with Rankin MacSween, to be published posthumously, entitled Encountering a Culture: The Story of New Dawn Enterprises.

Stewart was married for 50 years to Helen Swick Perry, a writer and editor in the field of psychiatry. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Victoria Wentworth Perry, who was a research assistant to both himself and his first wife. He is also survived by his stepchildren, Jon Wentworth (Naoko) and Allison Decker (Jeremy) and step-grandchildren, Takuro, Saho and Luka. He was preceded in death by his brother, John O. Perry (Sue), father of nephew, Gavin and niece, Celia.

A celebration of Stewart’s life will follow at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Doctors Without Borders.