Texas Senate honors Perry Foundation, Carla Perry
The Texas Senate recently honored Olney philanthropist Carla Perry with a resolution that expressed its high regard for her work benefiting the citizens of Young County through her family foundation and long record of service to the community. Sen. Drew Springer brought the proclamation to the Senate floor on Feb. 21, designated Young County Day. Mayor Rue Rogers presented Mrs. Perry with the proclamation on May 2, 2023. “I don’t feel worthy, but I am very honored to be recognized by the Senate,” Mrs. Perry said.
Mrs. Perry and her husband, the late L.F. Perry, started in business together in the 1950s, operating Perry Ready Mix in Stamford. In 1975, they returned to Olney and started Construction Equipment Manufacturing Company, aka CEMCO, which manufactures mobile batching plants and mixing equipment. Mrs. Perry retains the title of president of CEMCO and oversees its daily operations.
It is her record of helping Olney and cheering on its residents that got her the Senate’s admiration. She has been a director of the Olney Hamilton Hospital Foundation since 1997, and in 2017, launched the L.F. and Carla Perry Foundation, and was honored in Senate Resolution No. 180 for providing support and resources to promote the sustainability of the community and empowering service-driven individuals and groups.
Although Mrs. Perry is involved with the Foundation on a day-to-day basis, she has brought in her grandson-in-law Justin Piegat (President) and grandson, D.J. Meschkat (Vice President), to steer its operations. “It’s comforting for me to know that the young ones are there to carry it on.” She said, “I’ll come back and haunt them if they don’t take care of the foundation. We do expect the foundation to continue in the future.”
Mr. Piegat said that the family foundation will stay focused on “the community and what we can do to help the community with the things they need. Carrying on the legacy, first and foremost is going to be the newspaper ... and whatever else in our local community we can help.”
Mr. Meschkat sees the Foundation’s future as similar to the current state. “In my mind, nothing about that would ever change; There might be different problems that we don’t foresee today. I think we understand that there will always be problems that need to be addressed by people who can.”
Mrs. Perry credits her family’s deep connection to God and Young County for giving her a sense of responsibility. She feels that the Lord has “worked overtime” naming two organizations being blessed: Olney Community Christian Center aka The Refuge and its inspired leaders, Rodney and Kristy Nantz and their dedicated Board of Directors as well as The House of Mercy aka H.O.M.E. and its inspired leaders Preston and Trena Crow and their dedicated Board of Directors. Some of Mrs. Perry’s favorite causes have touched her in personal ways. She became a patron of the Hospice of Wichita Falls, helmed by Jake Truett and executive director Alissa Nichols, after witnessing the end-of-life care that her friend Carol Wilson, owner of Olney Drug, and her sister, received at the facility. Although located in Wichita County,. the Hospice provides care to Young County residents..
“I give only out of the abundance provided by the Lord,” Mrs. Perry said. “We know to Whom we owe the power that always has come to pass, remembering, ‘This is the day which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’” (Psalm 118:24)