Maj. Edward Clifford Perkins

Edward C. Perkins, 83, Bethlehem Steel counsel TYRINGHAM--Edward C. Perkins, 83, of Tyringham and Bethlehem, Pa., died Monday morning at home in Tyringham.

Born in Ridgefield, Conn., on July 31, 1919, son of Edward N. and Kate Riggs Perkins, he was raised in New York City and educated in schools there. He attended Harvard College until his National Guard regiment was activated in 1940. He received his law degree from Columbia University in 1948.

An Army major during World War II, he commanded a troop of African-American soldiers in Tonga, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands.

Mr. Perkins practiced law with Cravath, Swain & Moore in New York City from 1948 to 1955, when he became assistant general counsel and assistant secretary to the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Following his retirement in 1979, he continued as secretary to the Basic Steel Industry Audit and Review Committee.

He was a vestryman and treasurer of Cathedral Church of the Nativity and served as chancellor to the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. He was a member of the board of the Bethlehem Architectural and Historical Review and of the Bethlehem Bach Choir.

He was a member of the NYC Association of the Bar, the American and Northampton City bar associations, the Iron & Steel Institute, the Century Association, the Harvard Club of New York and the Mahkeenac Boating Club of Stockbridge.

He and his wife, the former Louise "Petey" DuBois, celebrated their 55th anniversary July 12.

Besides his wife, he leaves three sons, Ned Perkins of Bennington, Vt., James Perkins of Bethlehem and David Perkins of Short Beach, Conn.; two daughters, Louie (sic) Hoblitzell of Baltimore and Kate Clewell of West Lawn, Pa.; two sisters, Polly Montgomery of Woods Hole and Sister Catherine Louise of Roxbury, and 10 grandchildren.