Zelda May Arionus Perez's Obituary
Zelda May Arionus Perez
5/11/1935 - 12/24/2024
Born to Bernard and Francis, Zelda was the youngest of eleven siblings and her death was the final of that generation. Raised on a farm in rural South Dakota, life was tough for the family, especially considering her father passed away when she was just three years old, leaving her mother and the rest of her family to survive during the Great Depression. Her youngest brother Lyman, a year older, was inducted into the Korean War and to this day has been missing in action. Mom never gave up on searching for his remains.
Zelda's first child Jeanene was born in 1953. Jeanene did not meet her father until she was 40. Zelda's first marriage was to Darryl Knapp in 1954. She had three children from that marriage, Connie (Mike), Ronnie (Carol) and Terry (Gus). After their marriage ended, Connie, Ronnie and Terry were taken by their father back to South Dakota, leaving Jeanene with her mother. Zelda later married again to Tino Perez, with whom she had two children, David and Cheryl Ann (Mike). Cheryl has two children, Michael and Heather. Michael has three children: Marissa, Angelina and Michael Jr., and Heather has two: Jason and David Jay.
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