Robert L. Perkins, Jr.

Robert Perkins, Jr., late of Tenafly, New Jersey, passed away on June 17, 2017 at the age of 89.  He graduated from The Putney Boarding School in Vermont, and obtained his undergraduate degree from Yale in 1955 in environmental studies.

Robert (Bob) was the founding Trustee of Wildlife Preserves, Inc., a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of land in its natural state.  Bob devoted his life to Wildlife Preserves, and to the welfare of plants and animals.  He was a naturalist intent on defending open space and protecting wildlife habitats for education and research.  Bob was an avid bird watcher, as well as an enthusiast of literature and history.  He was known for his great wit, his engaging stories, and his gentle nature.

Bob helped create many parks and forests in the Northeast, including parts of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Fire Island National Seashore, and several Morris County Parks. Bob, as president of Wildlife Preserves, assisted in acquiring thousands of acres of marshlands; from the Delaware Bay in Delaware and southern New Jersey, north through the Pine Barrens, along the central Passaic Basin to the Appalachian mountains of northern New Jersey, through New York State, and as far north as New Hampshire and Maine, all for preservation purposes. Wildlife Preserves continues to manage sanctuary properties in New York and New Jersey, most notably Troy Meadows Preserve in Parsippany and East Hanover.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service praised Bob Perkins for his accomplishment of consolidating hundreds of individual lots of land into one contiguous parcel to create the Troy Meadows Preserves in Morris County. A letter written in 1960 from the Fish and Wildlife Service states, “(He) did what no one else was able to do before him.”

Born in Stamford Ct., Bob lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, Essex Fells, and Tenafly, New Jersey.  He is survived by his first cousins, Gertrude (Klenke) Morron, Bloomfield, Colorado and Anne (Klenke) Weiss, Meadville, PA.  Mr. Perkins will be missed by his many devoted friends and colleagues.

Donations in his memory may be made to Wildlife Preserves, a 501(c)(3) corporation, c/o Meyner and Landis LLP, One Gateway Center, Suite 2500, Newark, NJ 07102.

Arrangements by Waid Funeral Home, Meadville, PA, www.waidfuneralhome.net.