Following 46 years of public service to Cadiz and Trigg County, Pam Perry knew it was time.
The three-term circuit court clerk and longtime local lithographer as a deputy clerk spent Monday evening at the Renaissance Center for a reception, swapping stories with friends and family, exchanging quips with colleagues — and generally saying “so long and farewell” to a near five-decade career in law-and-order for a bit of peace-and-quiet.
After all, she’s got a grandson — Lincoln Keith Perry — about to enter kindergarten, and maybe there’s a hobby or two she’d like to explore alongside grandmotherhood.
But as Perry comes to these final days on the job, there’s a top moment she’ll carry with her into retirement, and that’s the switch over from the county’s sixth courthouse to its seventh — when the previous one was raised in 2007, and the current one’s construction completed in 2009 at the cost of more than $12 million.
Among the scores of contemporaries who stopped in to wish her good tidings heading into retirement: Kentucky Chief Justice and Trigg County native John D. Minton, Jr. and District Judge John Lindsey Adams, both of which dealt with Perry considerably over the course of her career.
Elected to Kentucky’s Supreme Court in 2006 and chosen as its chief justice for four consecutive terms, Minton noted her dedication to the job — and the people — should be commended and remembered.
Adams, meanwhile, remembers digging his heels into practicing law starting in 1988, where his love of Kentucky District Court 56 (which serves Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg counties) brought him in close contact with folks like Chappell Wilson, Bill Cunningham — and, of course, Perry, whose first days in local law came in 1975 under then-clerk Dan Thomas.
Replacing Perry won’t be a simple task. Following a state examination, Judge C.A. Woodall will have full authority in selecting a proxy before a special election is held in 2022 to fill the remainder of Perry’s term, which ends in 2024.
But 40-plus years of experience brought with it some words of wisdom from Perry, for whomever is next in line.
Adams also has his own wise words for Perry: put it down, and embrace retirement.
Perry’s last official day is set for August 1.
