Perry Ray Looney, 80


Perry Ray Looney

A service celebrating the life of Perry Ray Looney, 80, of Dixon, California, will be held Jan. 6, 2017, following a noon luncheon at Trinity Baptist Church Family Life Center in Vacaville, California. Mr. Looney died Dec. 15 at his home. 

He was born Oct. 5, 1937, in Gainesville, the son of Harley and Genevieve Looney. His family moved to California when he was a child, and he grew up in Portola and Chester, California, and then graduated from high school in Bakersfield, California. 

Mr. Looney was an electrician and worked the last few years of his career as supervisor of the electrical department at the University of California, Davis, where he retired in 1998.

He shared his electrician’s skills and other talents in his retirement by volunteering in many areas, especially taking care of electrical needs for small churches that could not afford to hire an electrician. In 2005, he accepted an invitation from the University Avenue Baptist Church in Hawaii, which had been praying for an electrician for two years. That step led to 12 years of service to the small churches of Oahu.  

He also stepped up when other work was needed, digging trenches, replacing roofs, painting, installing fire alarm systems and building decks on student housing at Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. If he ran into problems, he would sleep on the issue and wake up with the solution. He often said, “God, you are just so good to me!” 

Mr. Looney’s volunteer service also took him to several small churches in Northern California; he helped build a church in Magalia, and he and his wife ministered as volunteers at Youth Haven Ranch for Children in Southern Arizona and in inner-city Phoenix. He was part of a small group of retired men who built the Family Ministry Center and the new addition to his church, Trinity Baptist in Vacaville, California. He was often called upon to help friends with their electrical needs, building fences or drip systems.

When asked how he was doing, he would often answer, “If I was any better, I’d have to take something for it.” He often said, “I am so blessed!” And whenever someone thanked him, he would reply, “My pleasure.”

His wife Jeanette, the mother of his two children, died in 1999 due to a car accident. Later, Mr. Looney married Barbara Grisham, the widow of his first cousin, Clarence Grisham, formerly of Gainesville.  

In spite of a long battle with cancer, Mr. Looney never complained and kept a positive attitude throughout his life. His family and friends knew him as a truly unique man.

He is survived by Barbara, his wife of 17 years; his children Clyde Looney and wife Marcia of Chico, California, and Becky Utterback and husband Asa of Woodland, California; brothers Jerry Looney and wife Jean of Clearlake, California, Leroy Looney and wife Pat of Ash Grove, Missouri, and Phillip Looney and wife Caryn of Idaho Falls, Idaho; stepsons David, Dan, Darin and Dennis Grisham; grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews, and several cousins from the Ozark County area. 

Memorial contributions may be made to Mission Dignity/Guidestone (www.guidestone.org.missiondignity) and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Organization.  Both donations can be made through Trinity Baptist Church and designated to either organization.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423