Kettering resident Rowland “Perk” Perkins is synonymous with estate sales for the wealthy and famous families in the Miami Valley. Since 1957, Perkins has held sales for other people’s art, accessories, furnishings and collections. And, he is still doing it.
A Kentucky native, Perkins attended college for one year, worked briefly as a steward with Greyhound bus, and met his wife, Marge Bohachek of Kettering, a fellow student, at the former Schuster-Martin School of Drama in Cincinnati. Helen Emma “Patia” Reaume, mother of Tyrone Power, the late movie star worked at the school as a drama and voice coach.
“We were married in Kettering in 1950, and I spent the next four years in Japan during the Korean War,” Perkins said. “To keep busy I organized a little theatre group at a university in Nagaya.”
Returning home, Perkins worked for three years with Keith Wilson, a local and talented interior designer. “In 1957, I opened Perkins Interiors on Wayne Avenue and began the estate sales,” he said. “Later, I moved to a North Main Street location until the present location at East Dorothy Lane and Shroyer Road became available.”
Marge Perkins, a petite and attractive receptionist at the Kettering Memorial Hospital for many years, died July 2009. The couple had two daughters, Diane Wish, a CEO of a dialysis facility in Cleveland, and Gayle Perkins Wells, her dad’s assistant, and four grandchildren.
“My clients have always been the “old” families of Dayton and the Miami Valley, people of wealth and position,” Perkins said. “Nearing the end of their lives or of their progeny, they have furnishings acquired through decades of international travel.
“In one basement, I found a complete set of sterling silver tea and coffee service still in its original box, unopened.”
Perkins has found that most of his clients over the years have weathered well and are “real sweethearts;” others you wouldn’t invite to dinner.
His favorite TV show? “Antiques Roadshow,” of course. “I doubt that many of the highly appraised items even come close to the possible auction price,” he said. “But, yes, it’s a good show, and I rarely miss it.”
For more information about Perkins Interiors & Estate Sales, call (937) 293-2183 or visit its Web site at perkinsinteriors.com.
Contact this columnist at (937) 433-1552 or adeleauk4737@ sbcglobal.net.
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