Harold E. Perry Jr. (Hal) passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of February 1, 2015. He was born on September 1, 1938 in Middletown, CT. He was the only child of the late Harold E. Perry, Sr. and Paulina (Czens) Perry. In his growing up years he lived in Cromwell and then in Middlefield. He attended the former Hartford Technical School, concentrating in the field of electronics. Once he graduated, he took many correspondence courses at several institutes (the forerunner of classes online). His compromised health (pneumonia and ulcerative colitis) kept him close to home. He became proficient in TV and radio repair and was able to establish a small business in a small shop in the basement of his parents' home. He was able to venture out of his house and find employment with the Ripley Company and then Skinner Precision in New Britain. He and a friend from work decided to take a short jaunt to Rockville, CT to investigate a new group of post college graduates that were forming a club in the basement of St. Bernard's Church. The group was bowling that day at Vernon Lanes. It was April 9, 1970 and after introductions were made, teams of bowlers established, the games started. It was that day that he met his future wife, a girl from Tolland named Natalie Colombaro, a young teacher working in the Hebron school system. After more than a year of dating, they were married at St. Bernard's Church on July 31, 1971. They lived their first year as man and wife in East Hartford, moving to Andover, CT in June of 1972. Harold continued commuting to his job in New Britain but found himself applying to jobs nearer his Andover home. He acquired a job as a media tech in the library of E.O. Smith High School on the campus of UCONN in October, 1973. On good days he rode his bike to work, always trying to keep up his strength. He became interested in organic gardening and each year would plant a sizeable garden in the expansive front yard. He grew many different varieties of vegetables and helped with canning and freezing of those crops, giving away excesses to family, friends, and churches. Soon after marrying, Harold found himself yearning to further his education. He applied and was accepted into the general studies program at the University of Hartford in August of 1971. He then transferred to the Ward School of Electronics, part of the University's many specialty schools on campus. He continued working and went to school evenings until May, 1984 when he graduated. He also took various courses at Goodwin Tech and Vinal Tech, always seeking out newer ways of doing things in the field of electronics. He worked on the AV equipment at his wife's school, bringing old 8mm projectors, filmstrip projectors, earphones and tape recorders back to optimum working order. His only son, Daniel, was born in 1976 and from the time Dan could walk, he was helping his dad in the garden. Harold would often find Dan sitting among the beans and peas eating them. He loved hiking with Dan strapped to his back and going on many trails picking blueberries. Natalie usually followed with the bucket and two lively dogs named Skipper and Spice. In 1987, Harold "retired" from E.O. Smith and found a job as an electronic tech/installer at the State Police facility on Mill Hill Rd. in Colchester. He loved his work and at times would call home to say he was leaving a bit late because a trooper had come in to the facility with a broken wire on his light rack or communication gear in the car. By this time he was living in Hebron having moved there in 1988. Harold took early retirement in 1997 since he was becoming more and more exhausted with each passing year. He yearned once again to return to a college, this time Quinnebaug up in the Brooklyn, Danielson area. He took classes, concentrating on computers, using some of his money to have a computer custom built in 1998. Oddly enough, he started investigating why he continued to be so tired and sluggish. Using all his computer skills and wondering why he was losing his sense of smell as well as the tremors beginning in his right hand. He pretty much came to the conclusion he was in the early visible stages of Parkinson's disease. It wasn't until the fall of 2001 that his primary care physician agreed to send him to a neurologist and Harold's worse fears were confirmed. His quality of life was compromised earlier when he became an ileostomate on Valentine's Day, 1979. He never stopped seeking out specialists and other healthcare professionals. On October 29, 2010 he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, released to Harrington Court for rehab on November 12, 2010 then released 98 days later. He was cared for by the VNA nurses, OT, PT, and speech therapists, until December of 2010. Then Companions and Homemakers sent various caregivers to be PCAs (24 in these last 2 plus years). Leaving behind to mourn are his wife Natalie, his son Dan, daughter-in-law Kelly and two precious granddaughters Rylee and Harper. He also leaves a cousin Priscilla and her husband Jerry of Tucson, Arizona. Funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 7th at 1:00 p.m. at St. Peter's Church 30 Church St. Hebron, CT. The John F. Tierney Funeral Home, Manchester has care of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the friends of the Mansfield Animal Shelter where Harold and Natalie walked the dogs and groomed the cats. Paralyzed Veterans of America was another of Harold's charities or one of the donor's choice. For online condolences please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.