September 29, 1943 - April 14, 2004

Octavio Perez

Octavio "Poncho" Perez, 60, of Bloomington, died at 11:51 a.m. Wednesday (April 14, 2004) at BroMenn Regional Medical Center, Normal.

His funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Kibler-Smith Memorial Home, Bloomington, with private burial.  Visitation will be at the funeral home for two hours before the service.

He wa born Sept 29, 1943, in Bloomington, a son of the late Octavio and Frances (Pegues) Perez, Sr.  He married Ruby Howard on July 27, 1985, in Bloomington.

He is survived by his wife; a daughter, DeBrina Perez, Jackson, MS; an adoped son, Ernest "Gus" Kirkwood, Bloomington; a sister, Sara Kirksey, Bloomington; mother and father -in-law, Laverne and Marshall Howard, Bloomington; nine nieces; eight nephews; four great-nieces; and two great-nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Russell Meaderds.

His was a life-long resident of Bloomington and graduated from Bloomington High School in 1961.  Poncho was the manager of the Third Ward Club in Bloomington for 30 years.  Since, 2002, he has been employed by Illinois State University Food Serice as a cook and before that had worked for Chartwell as a cook for 2 1/2 years.

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