Archie B. Perkins

Archie B. Perkins Oct. 31, 1923-Jan. 26, 2017 Archie B. Perkins Archie B. Perkins, 93, of Denver, Colorado died Thursday, January 26, 2017, at Porter Hospital in Denver. The youngest son of George Eliot and Lottie Moseley Perkins, he was born on October 31, 1923 in Frances, Kentucky. Archie was one of 5 brothers and 2 sisters and lost his mother when he was only 3 years old. His oldest sister Grace Hamby took care of him with her own children until his father married Ella Taylor in 1928. Times were hard after his father lost his job at the fluorspar mine for medical reasons. The family lived on several different farms with his father doing whatever work he could find. In February of 1939, Archie started repairing watches and clocks at home and later started a shop in the town of Lola, Kentucky. In March 1943, Archie was drafted into the Army Medical Corps. After Archie was discharged, he worked at Watchmaking in Nashville, Tennessee. In the spring of 1944 he took advantage of the newly passed veteran's benefits and attended Elgin Watchmakers College where he received formal training in Watchmaking and impressed the director W. H. Samelius. Mr. Samelius asked Archie to start teaching at Elgin while he was still in school. When Archie completed the program at Elgin in 1946, he was recommended to be an instructor at the American Academy of Horology in Denver, Colorado. After 15 months of teaching, Archie went back to the bench and continued working as a Watchmaker in Denver jewelry stores for 5 years. He began teaching Watchmaking once again, this time for Denver Public Schools at Emily Griffith Opportunity School. Archie's career at Opportunity School spanned 32 years until his retirement in December 1983. Archie was very active in the field of Watchmaking during this period, teaching day and night classes, working on clocks and watches at home, writing technical articles for trade journals, and becoming a leader in the Horological community. Archie earned too many awards and honors during his teaching career to list them all here and remained active in Horology long after his retirement. Teaching required periodic College courses to renew teaching credentials and in the summer of 1955 Archie met the love of his life, Daphene Langford, at Colorado State University and they were married August 7, 1956. They soon started their family together with their son Richard A. and daughter Judy L. Perkins. Archie should be remembered for his love of teaching others in the field of Watchmaking and Horology through his work in the classroom and technical writing of articles and books to help students and experienced Watchmakers alike. He is deeply loved and missed. Archie was preceded in death by his wife Daphene L. Perkins. Archie is survived by his daughter Judy Perkins, son Richard Perkins (Laurel Watts) and grandchildren Lesley Perkins, Russell Perkins, and Steve Powers. Funeral services in Denver, Colorado are planned for February 2, 2017 with Pastor Mike Lemke and interment following at Fort Logan National Cemetery with Military Honors. Visitation Wed., 02/01/17, 5-8 PM, Funeral Service Thurs., 02/02/17, 11:00 AM, both at Horan & McConaty, 3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd.