Brent Carl Perry

Brent Carl Perry, born on May 16, 1959, at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, passed away on Monday December 2, 2024. He passed away peacefully in his home in La Habra, with his wife by his side. 

Brent grew up in La Habra, where he attended Lowell High School. He went on to earn a degree in Chemical Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, then a Master of Business Administration from Cal State Fullerton. After college, Brent went to work in the aerospace industry where he was instrumental in creating unique manufacturing solutions to produce complex and precise composite and metallic assemblies for the Aerospace and Defense market. 

For the last twenty-eight years of his career, Brent worked as a Senior Project Engineer for the L.A. County Sanitation Districts (LACSD), serving in the Industrial Waste section and focusing on wastewater issues for refineries and oil & gas producers. Throughout his working life, Brent was admired for his expertise, dedication, and mentorship. He was considered an excellent negotiator by his peers for his ability to incorporate innovation, creativity, and compassion into the process. He is also credited with creating a storm water discharge policy for L.A. refineries which allowed them to discharge wastewater off peak, providing a mutually beneficial solution for the LACSD and the refineries.

It was while assisting with a wastewater issue at a SoCalGas storage field in 1992 that he met his wife, Laurie. They went on to be married for 29 wonderful years, making innumerable happy memories. Brent was especially supportive of his wife’s gardening hobbies, which included raising thousands of Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies, and supporting a vast hummingbird population outside their dining room window. Each evening, they enjoyed watching the hummingbirds take one last sip of sugar water as night fell. “The Show,” as Brent would call it. 

Brent never shied away from a challenge and enjoyed creating one-of-a-kind solutions. As a loving father, he often shared projects with his son, Alex, who he taught so much about life through building computers together, practicing shot put, digging proper ditches, and even managing finances. Brent also took special pride in his home, designing creative, whimsical, and functional items used around the yard. Some of Brent's elaborate home projects included “indestructible” fences, gates, stairs, grape trellises (for wine, of course), drains, retaining walls, fire pits, and–most notoriously–repurposing a fire hydrant into a hose bib. As he liked to say with a grin, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

Brent is survived by his loving wife, Laurie; son, Alex; brother, Michael; and sister, Valeri. He was a devoted husband, father, brother, and friend. His passing has left a void in the hearts of so many whose lives he touched. Please join us in celebrating Brent’s gentle soul and vibrant life. His warm smile and lively humor will be deeply missed.

A visitation will be held at White Emerson Mortuary on Thursday December 12, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. A graveside service will follow at 1:00 PM at Rose Hills Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The American Cancer Society, St. Jude, or Tunnel to Towers, in Brent's honor.