Mary Katleen James Perot, while sleeping peacefully, Mary went home to be with her heavenly father on January 31, 2012. She was born the second child to a large southern farm family in Forest City, Arkansas on April, 18 1938, to Earnest and TheRessa James. She graduated high school in Phoenix, Arizona and completed training at the University of San Francisco with a degree Culinary Arts. Mary was a devout Christian. She loved the lord and reading his word. From an early age she learned to sing at her mother's knee and she and her sisters continued this tradition as the Minnie Ray singers, performing at various venues including churches, auditoriums, and even public radio.

Mary was a dynamic cook and loved to see people happily eating what she had prepared. She claimed that she had a special chemical in her hands that made her food taste better than other people's. She loved to fish, travel, do crossword puzzles, and collect knick knacks, teapots, quilts, and friends. She read everything she could get her hands on, a passion she passed on to her children. She never knew a stranger, her hospitality was well known, and her home was always open. She was generous to a fault. In her last years she enjoyed traveling to Florida with her sons, niece and granddaughter. She said she liked having her toes in the sand and just sitting there picking up shells.

She was preceded in death by her husband John, her mother and father, three brothers and two sisters. She is survived by her sisters, Captola Dunn Edgar of Tulsa, OK, Minnie Fletcher Joseph of Baker City, OR, Mildred Cloy Luis of Brinkley, AR, Delores Washington Harry of Omaha, NE; brothers, Elluard James of Vancouver, WA, Phillip James Shirley of Fort Worth, TX and her children, Nelson Trahan Sheila of West Richland, WA, John Perot Jr. of Los Angeles, CA, Elizebeth James Edward of Richland, WA, Michael Perot of Spokane, WA, Archi Trahan Margaret of Falls Church, VA, Willie Jones Jr. of Boise, ID, Trevia Smith Stephen of Richland, WA, eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be on Thursday, February 9 at 1pm at Memories at Sunset Event Center, 915 Bypass Highway in Richland, WA. The viewing will be held on Wednesday February 8 from 5pm to 7pm at Einan's Funeral Home. Internment will be on Saturday, February 11 at 1pm at the Wilder Cemetery, in Wilder, Idaho.

Her family would like to thank the staff at the Davita Dialysis Centers. They provide outstanding services all over the country.