SOMEONE YOU SHOULD MEET...

Marjorie Perry Is Here To Serve

When Marjorie Perry rises, she shines.

“The thought of, ‘What difference can I make today?’ motivates me every day,” she says. “My motto is, ‘I’m here to serve.’”

In August 2022, her passion for service was further illuminated when Perry became a college success coach with Take Stock in Children, a program that helps students who might not ordinarily have the means for higher education obtain a mentor and a four-year scholarship as early as in the sixth grade. Eligible middleschool students and their parents sign contracts. Students pledge to stay in school and out of trouble while maintaining a C average. They are paired with a mentor with whom they meet weekly. And the program handles the rest, raising money from the community to fund as many scholarships as there are eligible students in Monroe County using the Florida Prepaid College program that locks in tuition rates when the scholarships are purchased, even if the student won’t be attending college for another several years.

“I change the lives of students while teaching them self-advocating skill sets,” Perry says. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to follow my lifelong passion of helping those at risk of being left behind or forgotten.”

Prior to her work with TSIC, Perry worked with federal government information infrastructure protection for more than 25 years.

“I led the information systems management team in the U.S. Department of State for several years,” Perry says, adding that she worked regularly with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and other top federal officials.

She is now paying it forward to a new generation of workforce-ready professionals.

“I hope to connect them to our community youth to design a win-win solution,” she says.

The Portsmouth, Virginia native arrived in the Florida Keys in 2015 to manage a former mentee’s cybersecurity contract at Truman Annex. Her intention was to stay six months, but she bought a home in Big Pine Key a year later, and lives there now with her 3-year-old pit bull, Negan.

“I’ve discovered that you’re never too old to have fun, that no one in the Keys rushes for anything or anybody, so adjust your time accordingly,” she said. “And life is way too short not to appreciate the beauty surrounding me every day that many folks take for granted.”

She is a Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce and Rotary member and a member of Road Diva, one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in the country, and participates in charity rides such as Samaritan Shoes.

“We would ride into town, sit folks down to personally wash their feet, then place new socks and shoes on those we served in that community,” she says. “It was one of the more humbling events in my life.”

If there’s time left after all that, Perry goes fishing, supports friends who perform or facilitate events throughout the Keys, and visits family in Virginia, Tennessee and Massachusetts.

She asks those who might have two to four hours a month to consider the Take Stock In Children program, as they are always in need of mentors who can change a student’s life over lunch with a friendly ear and an open mind.

What’s something you’d like to learn? I would love to get my pilot’s license.

Who is your hero? Wonder Woman. She’s the total package. But a real-life hero is Colin Powell, who would tell me when he saw I was having a bad day, ‘Get mad, then get over it. It’s not as bad as you may think. Things will look better in the morning.’

Words to live by? You never know how a smile will change a person’s day

Contact her at Marjorie.Perry@KeysSchools.com for details. Be sure to ask her about the difference engagement makes.

“The results of my actions are reflected in each life I’ve touched,” she says. “Every night, when the events of the day flash in my mind’s eye, I ask myself with a smile on my face, ‘Did I do that?’ My answer is, ‘Yes, you did.’”

Garrett Daniel Hughes

NOV. 13, 2001- FEB. 13, 2023

Garrett Daniel Hughes, beloved son, brother, grandson, cousin and friend, went to be with the Lord on Feb. 13, 2023, at the age of 21. Garrett brought laughter, joy and happiness to everyone around him. He had a smile that could light up a room and a heart as big as the ocean. His passion for life, living every day to its fullest, was evident to all who knew him. He will be remembered for his fierce loyalty to his family and friends and the love he had for his home town.

He is survived by his parents, Lesley Touzalin and John and Tiffany Hughes; his brothers Zachary Morgan Hughes (Olivia), Carson Alexander Hughes, Luke Jaxon Hughes, Andrew Cain Freeman (Olivia) and Cade Joseph Freeman; grandparents Jack and Gwen Hughes, Norma and Steve Touzalin, and Bill and Mary Chase; uncles Christopher Hughes (Kay), Phillip Touzalin, Donnie Preston (Maria); aunts Renee’ (Erick) Sockol, and Neda (Michael) Jackson; cousins Wyatt Hughes, Cain Hughes, Callie Mellili, Ashlee Touzalin, Alyssa Touzalin, Devyn Sockol, Blaine Preston, Jada Preston, Preston Jackson, Zoey Jackson, and Zander Jackson; girlfriend Micah Hayden; and many loving relatives and friends.

Garrett was born Nov. 13, 2001, in Miami, Florida, but his family moved to Key West in 2002 and he spent his life growing up in a community he loved, playing sports and exploring the local waters. His youth was spent on ballfields where he played baseball, basketball, football and lacrosse. He developed a deep passion for the sea and spent as much time as he could fishing, diving or hanging out at the beach with family and friends. An energetic boy with a magnetic personality, he made deep friendships in his early days that would last throughout his lifetime.