Joseph James Perona died December 5, 2013 at his home in the College Walk Retirement Community,

Brevard, NC. He was born on Mary 28, 1930 in Blanford, Indiana. He was a graduate of Rose

Polytechnic Institute (now Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) with a major in Chemical Engineering

and minor in Mathematics. He earned a Ph.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1956 in Chemical

Engineering. He was associated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nearly forty years at various

times as a staff member or consultant, carrying out and publishing research work on radiochemical

separation processes. He joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1963 and

remained a professor of Chemical Engineering there until his retirement in 1996, serving as Head of the

Chemical Engineering Department from 1984 until 1990. For a number of years he was a consultant to

the Energy Research and Development Administration in Washington, DC and later to the Department of

Energy Headquarters in Washington. His publications in archived engineering research journals and in

national and international research symposia number about one hundred. He was a fellow of the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers and former Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Division.

He is survived by his best friend and wife of 58 years, Martha Pauline Martz Perona; son John, of White

Stone, VA; daughter Ann and son-in-law Dr. Jeffrey Glass of Rome, GA; daughter Jane Perona Jarnigan

of Knoxville, TN; daughter Mary Lee Perona of Cashiers, NC; seven grandchildren; sister Nancee

Margison of Downers Grove, IL; cousins Rick Bertetto of Crete, IL and Don Bertteto of Rensselaer, IN.

Joe loved hiking in the mountains. While in Knoxville he was a member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking

Club, after retiring to Cashiers, NC the Nantahala Hiking Club, and after moving to the College Walk

Retirement Community in Brevard, NC the Pisgah Hikers. For six summers while in his 70's he made

hiking trips in the French and Italian Alps, the last when he was 79. He was a member of the Sierra Club

and the Nature Conservancy.

A funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, December 10, at 11am at Sacred Heart Church in Brevard.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Transylvania County Hospice, 1234 Asheville Hwy, Brevard,

NC 28712 or Smile Train, Inc, 41 Madison Ave., 28th Floor, New York, NY 10010.

Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com.

Moody-Connolly Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.