John Edward Perrette
June 7, 2017

John Edward Perrette, age 73, of Carriere, MS, passed away Wednesday, June 7, 2017, after a hard-fought battle against cancer. His funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, June 12, 2017, at Burgetown Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Carriere. Burial will be in Burgetown Cemetery under the direction of McDonald Funeral Home. Bro. Robby Keith Holston, Jr. will officiate the service assisted by Bro. Dusty Paul Frierson and Bro. Kirk Hoelzel.
Visitation will be from 6-9 p.m. Sunday, June 11, 2017, at McDonald Funeral Home and again at 9 a.m. Monday, June 12, 2017, until service time at Burgetown Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John was born in Carriere, and he spent his early years there as well as in Ozona, but he spent the majority of his life in McNeill where he worked, raised his children, and built homes with his wife, Tammie.
John was a self-made man who prided himself on taking risks and starting businesses. Before he opened snowball stands, stores, and restaurants or became the go-to fireworks salesman of Pearl River County, he spent his 20s working offshore and for Boeing in Chicago. While working for Boeing, he was named “Suggester of the Year” in the late ‘60s, an honor that added his name to the Lunar Roll of Honor, a microfilm list of people who contributed to the 1969 moon landing.
John had a big family, but he had an even bigger heart. He may have raised seven of his own children, but he helped raise so many more. He gave teenagers jobs when they needed them and taught them and his children’s friends about respect, work ethic, and the value of working with their hands.
John’s name is almost synonymous with “crawfish” since he boiled the best crawfish in three states, as anyone in the McNeill area can attest. He designed and had custom made his own commercial-grade boiler so that he could sell to his many fans, and he had every intention of making just one more batch all the way up until his death.
John was a singer from the time he was a little boy, when he sang as he walked to the well to fetch water, but he became known for his karaoke house parties where he serenaded his guests with renditions of his favorite songs by Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, George Strait, and Hank Williams, Jr., among many others. He didn’t wait for a special occasion to sing, though; he would put on regular concerts and recording sessions for just his family. He may not have said it himself, but his wife and children would say he sang better than Elvis, a tall claim he easily proved true.
John may have been known to his community as an authoritative entrepreneur who also loved to host events, including countless Halloween parties, festivals, fireworks shows, and crawfish boils, but his family saw him first as a gardener most days. He adored his fruit trees and berry bushes and spent years tending to his favorite plum trees, Satsuma trees, muscadine grape vines, blueberry bushes, pear trees, and so many more. Even after his illness progressed and kept him from taking care of those plants himself, he insisted his children tend them and make sure they were flowering. His trees were always in the forefront of his mind. John and Tammie were a perfect gardening match and lovingly landscaped every property they owned together. In their early married years, they uprooted a very young magnolia tree to bring it home, plant it, and watch it grow. Today, it stands higher than any other tree in their front yard and reminds his family that it is because of their union that it grew to be such a loved adornment and is a living reminder of the years they invested in together.
John was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He may have only spent a few short weeks in the Navy before a back injury medically discharged him, but our country never turned its back on him. His service ended up being about not what he did for our country but what our country did for him. Without his veteran’s benefits and the VA hospital in Biloxi, John would not have been able to receive treatments, medicines, and specialist doctors who, without a doubt, helped him live an additional two years and spend precious time with his wife, children, and many beautiful grandchildren.
John was a member of Burgetown Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Carriere. His road to religion was a curving one that led him down many paths and eventually to several wonderful churches led by honorable pastors, but his home was at Burgetown, the church his adored mother attended most of her life.
He found his way home to her home and to his church when it mattered most, and he held every member in the highest regard. He was loved by all, and he loved them in return.
He was preceded in death by his parents, J. C. Perrette and Velma Loveless Perrette; daughters, Alicia Jonette Perrette Barron and Shelley Lynn Perrette; grandson, Trey Linden; brother, James Perrette; sister, Eloise Crawford; and his son-in-law, Jeremy Burks.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Tammie Barber Perrette; daughters, Fran Ashlie Perrette King and husband Rodney, Kelli Renee Craft and husband David, Mikaa Yvonne Burks, Misty Renee Hawthorne and husband Boo, Kelly Amanda Perrette Hawkins and husband Brayden; sons, Jeffery Stephen Brekeen and wife Racquel, Jonathan Clinton Perrette and wife Ashley; grandchildren, Codie, Katelin, Macie, Austin, Mikey, Kamri, Kacen, Alex, Ethan, Will, Connor, Gabe, Khale, and Kenna; sisters, Betty Jean Spence and husband George, Geraldine Rush, Mary Dale Smith and husband Lewis; son-in-law, Roy Barron; and many nieces, nephew, cousins, loved ones, and friends.
Obituary, Register Book, and driving directions can be found at www.mcdonaldfh.com.