Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

March 7, 2024

Perry Liles Lucas, daughter of Jane and the late Dr. George W. Liles, died on March 7, 2024. She was sixty years old.

 Perry grew up in Concord and attended St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, VA, before graduating from Sweet Briar College in 1985 where she was a member of its tennis team. Following graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. and worked on the 1988 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign.

From 1989 to 1993, she served in the Bush Administration as an associate director and cabinet liaison in the White House Office of National Service which oversaw the administration’s “1,000 Points of Light” program recognizing outstanding community service. Perry coordinated visits for President Bush and his cabinet members  around the country where they would recognize individual “Points of Light.”

She married Bob Lucas in 1991 and they moved to Charlotte in 1993. She then ran her father’s successful campaign for Concord mayor. She also served as campaign manager for John Lassiter’s 2009 Charlotte mayoral campaign.

Believing that “any definition of a successful life must include service to others,” Perry was an active parishioner and leader at Christ Episcopal Church. She served multiple terms on its Vestry, including as Junior Warden, co-chaired a capital campaign, taught Sunday School and served on the Altar Guild.  She was an enthusiastic volunteer for many organizations, including Friendship Trays, Chapel of Christ the King and Women of Vision. While servant leadership was a priority to her, she considered her most important role to be a loving, encouraging wife and mother to her three children.

Perry was a natural athlete, winning the Member-Guest golf tournament at Grandfather Golf and Country Club even after a diagnosis of ALS in 2022. Golfing with friends and family was her lifelong passion.  Grandfather Mountain was a special place for her; she grew up spending summers there and continued the family tradition with her own children.

While Charlotte was her home, she enjoyed extensive family travel, including ski trips, beach weeks, and adventures abroad, mainly to Europe and the Caribbean as well as  recent visits to China and Japan.

She was sustained by the generosity and love of her family and many friends following her diagnosis, which only strengthened her deep faith even as the disease took its toll. She faced challenges in her daily routine but stayed active, attending the wedding of her oldest child, special holiday celebrations and spending time at Grandfather, including celebrating her 60^th birthday with her best friends and extended family.

One of Perry’s many endearing qualities was her gracious and relentless dedication to the well-being of others. She was the featured speaker at Charlotte’s 2022 ALS Walk, and her team, “Pounding for Perry” raised record donations for the event. She directed that her brain and spinal cord be donated to science to help find a cure for the disease and passed with the knowledge that her difficult illness and death would not be in vain. Her family is joyfully assured that she celebrates that accomplishment with us from her new heavenly home.

Besides her mother and husband, Perry is survived by two sons, Robby (Katie) and George, and a daughter, Janie. She is also survived by her brother, Jock Liles, his wife Betsy, and their four sons Welch, Paul, Woody and Hines.

Memorials in Perry’s honor may be made to the Joe Martin ALS Foundation or the Transforming Hearts capital campaign at Christ Church.  Her family sends its deep gratitude to the doctors and staff at Atrium Health Neurology Specialty Care, to Taj and Erin and her other wonderful caregivers, and a special thanks to Perry’s lifelong best friend Frances Hooper for her immense love and unending support. 

A memorial service will be held at Christ Church at 2:00 PM on Friday, March 15, 2024, with a reception to follow in All Saints’ Hall.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.