Donald A. Perry, a church elder in the Atlanta metro and vice president of public relations for Chick-fil-A, died July 27 of a heart attack. He was 60.

“Don was a member of our Chick-fil-A family for nearly 29 years,” representatives of the Georgia-based restaurant chain said in a news release. “He was a well-respected and well-liked media executive in the Atlanta and University of Georgia communities, and we will all miss him.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Perry’s family includes the 900-member Hillcrest Church of Christ in Decatur, Ga., where he and his wife, Marilyn, have worshiped for 19 years. For 15 of those years Donald Perry served as a church elder.

“Our church is certainly devastated by this loss,” Richard Barclay, the church’s senior minister, told The Christian Chronicle.

Donald Perry shepherded the congregation’s marriage ministry, ladies’ ministry and adult education program. He also was active an integral part of the church’s current building project, designed to expand the congregation’s facilities as it grows.

“He was a visionary man, a dedicated man … a kingdom man,” Barclay said.

Perry’s death received national media attention due to the public relations firestorm surrounding comments by Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy.

Cathy, the son of the company’s founder, S. Truett Cathy, told a Baptist newspaper that he backs “the biblical definition of a family.” Gay rights groups called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A. Politicians in cities including Boston and Chicago told the chain it is not welcome there.

About a week before his death, Perry issued a statement that the restaurant chain intended “to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

As the Hillcrest church makes plans for Donald Perry’s memorial service, Barclay said he’s struggling with the decision of whether or not to allow media to attend.

“He didn’t bring his work over here,” Barclay said of the church elder. In his job, “he didn’t speak for the kingdom. He spoke for Chick-fil-A.”

A native of Claysville in south Georgia, Donald Perry was baptized in 1971 in Callaway Gardens, Ga.

He was one of the first African-Americans to study at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism, where he earned a degree in public relations, according to the Hillcrest church’s website. His wife is a graduate of the university’s business school. The couple attended the Simpson Street Church of Christ in Atlanta before moving to Hillcrest.

During a church conference seven years ago, Donald Perry shared a round of golf with Barclay, then a preacher in the Houston area. The church elder gave the minister his card and told him to come visit him in Atlanta, where he promised to treat Barclay to a chicken sandwich.

“Don was the one who was instrumental in coaxing me out of Texas,” Barclay said.

The suddenness of the elder’s death shocked the congregation, the minister added. In February the church lost another of its leaders, deacon Bob Smith, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Members still mourn that loss.

“With Bob, we had months,” Barclay said. “With Don, we had minutes.”

During Sunday worship, two days after Donald Perry’s death, Barclay preached from the Old Testament book of Joshua, which tells the story of the Israelites after the loss of Moses.
 
“Moses was called home” before he could enter the Promised Land, Barclay said, “but God was the one who made the promise. And God will keep his promise.”


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