Carmen Mercedes Pérez

It is with great sadness that we share that our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Carmen Mercedes Pérez transitioned from this life to rest in the Lord, on Saturday, 8 November 2025 in Kettering, Ohio, after complications with a heart condition. Carmen was born in the seaside town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on 15 May 1941, and she moved with her parents, Monserrate Rosario and Mercedes Rivera, and her sister, Judith Rosario, to Takoma Park, Maryland in 1957 where she lived and studied high school at Takoma Academy, and later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in home economics and education in 1964 from Columbia Union College. There she met the love of her life, Frank Pérez, and they married on 10 April 1966. Carmen worked at the World Health Organization as an assistant buyer from 1964 to 1974, during which time she supported her growing family while her husband studied and started his career. She remembered her days at the WHO fondly, and she often reminisced about how there she met individuals from around the globe, and purchased sweets at Watergate Pastry after work.

In 1974, she moved with her husband and three young daughters to New Jersey and dedicated her time to being a homemaker. In 1979, the family made the decision to move to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico where they embarked on mission work. She worked as an administrative assistant at Bella Vista Elementary School where her three young daughters were enrolled. Carmen was an active member of the Women’s Auxiliary in Boston where the family moved in 1988, and later in Kettering, Ohio where the family relocated in 1994. She was an engaged member of the Seventh-Day Adventist church all of her life.

Carmen loved to sew and garden. She was a discerning and creative cook who often experimented in the kitchen and invented original recipes. She excelled at preparing Puerto Rican cuisine. Carmen loved to travel with family, and once she and Frank were empty nesters, they discovered the world together. She experienced three full solar eclipses, the first in Virginia in 1973, the second in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2017, and the third in Dayton, Ohio in 2024. Carmen was tenderhearted, caring, kind and generous. Always elegant and gracious in her demeanor and spirit, she was an excellent listener who was quick to offer an encouraging word and share wise counsel. She regularly contributed to Veterans with disabilities.

Carmen will be greatly missed by her husband of almost 60 years, Francisco J. Pérez, and her three daughters, Dr. Shelley Pérez-Chung, Dr. Vanessa Pérez-Rosario, and Karina Pérez-Marconi, and her son-in-law, Dr. Kirk Chung. Her four grandchildren, Chloe Chung, Christian Chung, Nico Marconi, and Havana Marconi will keep her memory alive in their hearts. A celebration of life ceremony is being planned for the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to the Good Neighbor House Food Pantry, a ministry that was dear to her heart and embodies her spirit to feed, comfort, and care for others.