Don Clayton Perdue,75, of Prichard, W.Va., passed away Saturday, October 18, 2025 at the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House. Funeral service will be conducted 11:00 A.M. Friday, October 24, 2025 at Holy Family Catholic Church 900 Winchester Ave. Ashland, Ky. 41101 with Pastor V. Rev. D. Andrew Canon, KHS officiating. Interment with Masonic Rites, will follow in Spring Valley Memory Gardens in Huntington, WV. Don was born November 12, 1949 in Kenova, WV. a son of the late Wendell Clayton and Mary Beuhler Perdue. Don was born and raised in Kenova and attended both Ceredo-Kenova and Buffalo-Wayne High School. He was a proud son of Marshall University and completed his pharmacy degree at Ohio Northern in Ada, Ohio. While in college, he met, fell in love with and married Mary Jo Dudek, his “MoJo.” Throughout his life he was a loving father to Erin and Sean, husband to Mary Jo, and Poppy to Dempsey, Brighton, and Rowan. Don was also a forever advocate for those without a voice in the Appalachian communities of Wayne County as a pharmacist and Democratic representative for the WV House of Delegates from 1999 to 2016. A majority of his legislative commitment consisted of serving as the Chair of the Health and Human Resources Committee, spending countless hours fighting for legislation that would help families recover from the devastating opioid epidemic that ravaged our state, obtain affordable healthcare services, and seek ways to build a healthier future for the children if West Virginia. His passion was always to bring awareness of the beautiful and valued people of our region and state and make sure they could feel safe, healthy, and heard when others so often left them behind. After his retirement as a pharmacist and state legislator, he served as the Executive Director of the Wayne County Economic Development Authority. Some of the projects he was able to help initiate included the Healing Place in Huntington, WV, the Heartland Intermodal Gateway in Prichard, WV, and converting the old Corbin Building in Westmoreland, WV, to the West Edge Factory. In addition to his professional and public service, Don consistently devoted his time to numerous local and state organizations, including Stepping Stones, Inc., Sunflower Seeds Tri-State Aid for Ukraine, Recovery Point West Virginia, Rural Health Development, and The Rural Lifestyle Alliance (RLA). In his final days he shared this message, his epilogue, with his family: It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from or what you do, you were a part of my life and for that I’m eternally grateful. Every human interaction leaves something behind to help make you who you are. So be thankful for all of them. In addition to his parents, Don was preceded in death by two brothers Lawrence “Sonny” Perdue and Bobby Jack Perdue. Survivors include his beloved wife, Mary Jo Perdue; daughter and son-in-law Erin Morgenstern (Justin), son and daughter-in-law Sean Perdue (Lindsay); three grandchildren Dempsey Perdue, Brighton Perdue and Rowan Morgenstern; two sisters and one brother-in-law Linda Hall, Patricia “Patti” Kunde (Gerald) and a sister-in-law Mary Perdue and numerous family members and friends. In lieu of flowers the family request donations to one of the following organizations: https://steppingstonesinc.org/how-can-i-help/ ;https://sunflowerseedstristate.com/; https://recoverypointwv.org/; http://www.rurallifestylealliance.com/donate.html; https://hospiceofhuntington.org/donate/make-a-donation/. Visitation will be Thursday, October 23, 2025 at Rollins Funeral Home in Kenova from 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Online condolences may be expressed at rollinsfh.com.
Your family owned hometown funeral home serving the Ceredo-Kenova area since 1922.