Londaryl Perry blog series Part 5: The state of Perry's family today
This is the final post in a five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Coach of the Year.
Perry was profiled in Tuesday’s newspaper, but his life story is too fascinating to be held to one story. This blog post will focus on Perry’s military career. Here is the full blog schedule:
Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career
Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers
Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job
Friday: Perry’s military career
Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today
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At age 34, Londaryl Perry received word that another uncle had died because of drugs.
His uncle James, who had no insurance and had been a drug addict for most of his life, didn’t have an overdose. The drugs just finally took a toll on his body.
“This particular uncle, even though he was on drugs, he was probably the happiest druggie and alcoholic you’d ever meet,” Perry said. “He was always happy and he was going to make you smile.”
Perry was in Iraq for the second time, this time as a civilian contractor, when his cousin told him about James’ death.
The family was scrambling around, trying to find a way to pay for funeral and burial costs. They had decided to cremate him and not have a funeral because they didn’t have enough money.
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