Joan "Joee" Perryman

Joan (Joee) Perryman was an innately shy woman, yet outgoing at times, who found self-expression on the stage in the persona of fantastical characters, through her painting, the color of her hair, or by wearing a huge bird costume in sweltering weather.
She was Lucy Ricardo to husband Alan Perryman’s Ricky, a loyal wife and friend who, like the television redhead, defied convention with her oft-flamboyant style, always testing her spouse’s incredulity with her hare-brained schemes.
Her punk-rock-styled platinum hair – sometimes worn in a flattop, other times spiked – complemented her otherwise boho-chic fashion style. One Fourth of July she dyed her hair red, white and blue.
She was born in March 1948 in West Seattle, as one of six children, and moved to California to flee from a marriage gone sour. She became very involved in the fine arts – theater, painting, ceramics – all needed escapes from the banality of a job as a Workman’s Comp data entry clerk.
Joee and Alan met April 15, 1997 at a social function in southern California, where he was employed as a test engineer for ITT. The couple moved to Socorro in August 1999 when Alan was hired as a rocket engine testing engineer/program manager at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) on the New Mexico Tech campus.
Those who know the Perrymans will not be surprised to learn that they were married on Halloween 19 years ago. “We did it our way,” Alan said. It was for adults only, and guests were invited to dress in their favorite fantasy costumes. The couple rented out a whole hotel of 14 rooms in Palm Springs for a full weekend of, well, continuous celebrating, a Halloween weekend wedding party. Why not? The marriage was, after all, the third for each of them.
Socorro is not southern California, but Joee was determined to bloom where she was planted, be it the dry, dusty desert southwest with its stubborn soil and rainless clouds. She planted a garden, tending to her green chile peppers, eggplant, grapes and zucchini which she sold at the local Farmers Market.
And then she would get these hare-brained schemes, like the time she wanted to ride a horse, after riding a few years before. Joee had a friend in San Acacia who owned horses, in particular one she befriended. So she decided to buy a saddle at the flea market. Now, Joee knew nothing about saddles and less about the art of negotiating at flea markets, so she paid full price for a saddle she never actually got to sit on, at least not with a horse under her. This purchase was a secret only revealed by Dione Grillo to Alan after Joee’s passing.
Another time, she truly wanted to get some bagpipes and learn to play. “Some projects she followed through on – some she did not,” Alan said.
During their second year in Socorro, Joee talked her spouse into buying her a blue, white and silver Indian headdress and invited herself to a Socorro High School Warrior pep rally. “The crowd didn’t know what to think of her,” Alan said, adding that it was Joee’s one and only appearance in the garb of the high school mascot. She also once showed up at a local church and played Amazing Grace for the service.
It was Joee who played the role of Sandy the Crane for several years, wearing the heavy and larger-than-life costume of a giant bird, at that time the mascot for the Festival of the Cranes.
Picture this: Joee in a giant bird costume in the back of a pickup during the Old Timers parade in Magdalena in early July.  To compensate for the immense heat inside that costume, aluminum tubing from a dryer vent was attached to the rear of the costume and hooked up to the vehicle’s air conditioner via a sliding window in the back of the truck. Yes, it made for a strange sight to see a bird with a tail of sorts blowing up the back of her costume.
She wasn’t particularly political, but was not afraid to express her opinion at a Socorro City Council meeting. Joee was an animal lover who at one time owned two dogs and four cats – only one remains. Harry Potter was one of her favorites, and most anything to do with fantasy, including Star Trek, sci-fi, fantasy cartoons – “all the popular stuff,” Alan said.
Joee also found a second home on the stage at Macey Center, performing leading roles in several musicals. Darlene Torres, a veteran of the musicals herself and a longtime member of Socorro Community Theater, vividly recalls Joee’s first stage role.
When Torres returned to her hometown in 2005, Joee, noting Darlene’s outgoing personality, introduced herself to Torres at the Tech Bookstore and encouraged her to audition for an upcoming musical. When is the audition? Darlene asked. Tonight, Joee replied, adding, just show up. Darlene did and won a role in “Into the Woods.” For her part as the narrator, Joee dressed in a sparkling, lavish purple tuxedo with tails – yes, she nailed the part.
Darlene as director hand-picked Joee to play the only adult role in a children’s production called “Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue Meet the Dirty Dan Gang.” Joee was delighted to play the role of Dirty Dan and, Torres said, she played a great villain in the style of a Cruella Deville.
Joee did not trust easily and was not one to collect a posse of close pals. Torres was an exception. “I was blessed to be one of her trusted friends,” she said. “I got to see the real Joee.”
But perhaps Joee’s finest role was as Alan’s partner. When the couple decided to remodel their home, they moved into a new 32 - foot motor home on the property where they lived for 11 long months. “We went from 2000 square feet of living space to 200,” Alan said. “A good test of a marriage is to live in close quarters while you’re renovating a home.” Ironically, the fencing was completed just a few weeks before Joee died – but, Alan said, Joee did get to enjoy the home she loved in all its renovated glory for almost two happy years.
She often accompanied Alan to the Albuquerque, Deming, Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows as well as to the mining claim Perryman owns several miles west of town overlooking the valley. In time she mended family relationships, including with her two children, which brought her both joy and a sense of peace.
Alan is currently polishing log sections of petrified wood for a project which the Bureau of Geology & Mineral Museum will use in its courtyard, and one of them will be dedicated to Joee. The last piece of beautiful petrified wood that she helped work on.
Mostly, Alan said, “Joee spent time hanging out and putting up with me.” She supported him through the proverbial good times and bad, including a long bout with her husband’s drinking and dealing with personal demons.
Now retired, the Perrymans took to the road in their motor home, including a month-long tour of the western states last August, touring Colorado Springs, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, to the Pacific Coast and into Joee’s native Seattle. Joee was able to visit with most of her remaining family during this vacation trip.
Joee had a good, long life and lived it fully as much as she could. A 20-year relationship and 19 of marriage covers a lot of ground. But, said Alan, “I wish I could have had her for 20 more. It wasn’t long enough.”
Joee, who died on June 29 in an Albuquerque hospital after a major stroke four days earlier with her husband, brother-in-law and close friends by her side, will be memorialized in a Celebration of Life service scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 16 at Daniels Family Funeral Home in Socorro. Probate Judge Darryl Cases will preside; a reception and pot luck lunch will follow at the Perryman home, 1214 Northeast Frontage Rd.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Roger and Marie (McIntosh) Loken and nephew, William McIntosh Branom “Mac”. Joee is survived by her devoted husband, Alan Perryman; daughter, Celeste (Sisson) Erickson and husband Jeff; son, Alec Sisson; grandchildren, Elorna and Audrey Erickson; siblings, David Loken and wife Beverly, Catherine Hunter, Robert  Loken and wife Eleanor, Roberta Jackowski and husband Larry and Karen “Kay” (Branom) Coffey and husband Jim; and brother in law, Vern Perryman.