In Memory of Jack Perlman

February 14th 1921 - January 12th 2005

Jack enjoys his first cup of cappuccino winter 2003 

Jack L. Perlman passed away January 12, 2005 at St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital after a brief illness resulting from Cancer.  He was 83 years old.

Jack, a native Savannahian, was born February 14, 1921.  He grew up in the Old Fort section of downtown Savannah and attended Savannah High School.  As our nation faced war, Jack quit school in his senior year to join the United States Army.  During WWII he went ashore with US troops at Normandy and fought his way across Europe with General Patton.  As a forward observer with the artillery he fought in every major European campaign including the Battle of the Bulge.  At the end of WWII he returned to Savannah to work in the family business Yachum & Yachum department store on West Board Street.  He married Savannah native Frances Goldberg in 1948 and when the Korean conflict heated up he returned to active military service in 1950.  He and Frances moved to Williamsburg, Virginia where he was stationed until the end of war.  After he was honorably discharged from the service at the end of the conflict, he and Frances returned to Savannah where he reentered the family business until the store burned down during the riots that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968.  He then joined Sears & Roebuck and worked as a department manager at both the old downtown store and at Oglethorpe Mall before retiring in 1986.  Not one to sit back and relax, after retirement, Jack with the help of his lifelong friend John Jurgensen, created a commercial tool repair business as part of the services offered by Georgia Safety and Fastener that recently became part of Samson Industries, located on Bay Street.  Jack built a loyal base of customers over the years and became renowned for his honesty, integrity and excellent work.  As a fixture within the company, he continued to run the repair business as part of the Samson Industries family until his death. 

Cherished and adored by family and friends, Jack is survived by his sons Jerry and his wife Elizabeth of Richmond Hill, Jeffrey and his partner, Scott Roehm of West Paterson, New Jersey, his companion Lois Rockwell, her daughter Jane Tyler and her children Nancy and Chris all of Savannah, and a brother, Murray Perlman and his partner, Wayne Spears, also of Savannah, one grandchild Dana Kirgan and two great-grandchildren, Briston and Trice of Charleston, SC.