JANICE (JAN) MARCIA PERKINS

Jan Perkins, 70, of Riverside, CA, passed away on February 4th, 2026, surrounded by her family.

She was born in New York on July 8th, 1956, to Arthur and Sheila Marmor, and spent most of her early life living in Commack, Long Island. She learned to play piano and flute from a young age, along with her sister Lisa, and both were part of their high school marching band. Jan attended Ithaca College to study music, but was pressured into abandoning her pursuits partway through, and instead majored in computer science at SUNY Stony Brook.

While growing up, Jan's family took several vacations to visit relatives in California, where she fell in love with the palm trees and sunshine, and dreamed of living there someday - so once she graduated with her degree, she made that dream into reality and moved to Huntington Beach in her early 20s. She was one of the earliest women to get a degree in the field of computer science, and was one of the leading engineers working on many classified government projects.

While working in aerospace at McDonnell Douglas, she was introduced to Emerson Perkins by a mutual friend. As the story goes, this friend invited them both to Disneyland and purposefully deserted them, successfully playing matchmaker as he followed them from afar and watched the two of them hit it off. Jan and Emerson were married on January 5th, 1985, and celebrated 41 anniversaries together.

Jan eventually picked up her love of music once again later in life, playing flute alongside her sister Lisa with the Medical Musical Group. She continued to play with the orchestra for several years, even after Lisa's passing, and made many friends there. Jan was finally able to fulfill her life's dream of teaching music when she became an assistant conductor for the band at Woodcrest Christian High School, teaching flute to her students and sharing her passion for music with them. She was an avid lover of reading, Disneyland, and the color pink, and always believed in perseverance and optimism.

She is survived by her husband Emerson and her two children, Frannie and Kim, as well as her nephews, Jason and Philip, and nieces, Alanna and Emily.

AM in Riverside, CA.

Her Graveside service will be held on March 6th, 2026, at Olivewood Memorial Park at 11:00

Arrangements entrusted to the care of Akes Family Funeral Home, Riverside, California.

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