‘Old school’ detective dies Saturday unexpectedly

January 9, 2019 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

At 39 years on the police department, it was no surprise that his colleagues called Detective Sgt. John Perdue “old school” Tuesday while reflecting on his sudden death.

Perdue, 65, who was a homicide detective, died Monday in St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman after becoming ill Saturday at his home.

Chief Robin Lees said that Perdue had just told him last week that he’d planned on retiring in February.

Lees and Perdue both started about the same time, in the fall of 1978, and worked a patrol car together for years on the South Side. Lees said he relied on Perdue’s uncanny memory and his knowledge of the streets because Perdue grew up on the South Side.

“I would always count on John to remember the people and their relationships,” Lees said.

He wasn’t the only one. Several of his colleagues said Perdue could remember crimes and homicides as far back as when he was a rookie patrol officer. He would know where the victims were, the investigators who were on call – everything – and would never have to look it up.

Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn said if he needed to check an old file, he would often look for Perdue first and ask him about it. Perdue was always right, Blackburn said.

Perdue was a homicide detective in the 1990s when the city was setting record homicide rates year after year and was still a detective when he died.

Detective Sgt. Dave Sweeney, who partnered with Perdue often, said Perdue was an excellent teacher. Perdue was able to get along with people in all kinds of circumstances because of his easy-going nature, Sweeney said,

“He was always down to Earth,” Sweeney said.

In their work they often speak to people who are having their worst crisis, yet Perdue was always able to relate to people and get them to talk, Sweeney said.

“Everyone, even those who were rough around the edges, he was able to smooth them out,” Sweeney said.

Former Detective Sgt. Darryl Martin, who has retired, said it was Perdue’s way with people that made him a good detective as well as his memory. Martin said Perdue remembered streets, old hangouts and bars, who used to go to them, neighborhoods and who lived there and also who held sway in those places.

“He knew everybody, and you could ask him any question,” Martin said. “He was good about stuff like that.”

Just about every day Perdue also would hold court with Tracy Simmons Bonilla, the secretary in the detective bureau. She said Perdue loved to laugh and was a huge Cleveland Browns fan. She said he would often make bets he knew he would lose because he liked bringing in different kinds of food to his coworkers to pay off his bet.

“He was the funniest person I ever worked with, bar none,” she said. “He brought so much life to the office.”

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.