Edward P. “Pat” Perrin was born on September 19, 1925, in Spartanburg, SC, to parents Lewis Wardlaw and Elizabeth Patterson Perrin. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He later graduated from the University of Virginia in 1948, and in 1950 received his law degree from the USC School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of Wig and Robe.
Pat returned to Spartanburg where he practiced law with the firm Perrin, Perrin, Mann & Patterson, LLP until his retirement in 1999. He concentrated his practice in the fields of corporate, banking and contract law and estate planning. In addition to the practice of law, Pat was one of the founders, a director and chair of the board of the Spartanburg Bank and Trust Company; a director and chair of the board of First State Savings & Loan Association; a director of Fiske-Carter Construction Co.; a director of Moreland Chemical Company, Inc.; and the Spartanburg City Attorney.
Pat was also actively involved in many civic and philanthropic endeavors, including serving as a member of the Board of Visitors of Converse College; trustee and chair of the board of the Spartanburg County Foundation; director and president of the SC Bar Foundation; director and chair of the board of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce; member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association; director of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA; president of the Spartanburg County Bar Association; president of the Spartanburg Rotary Club; president and General Campaign chair of the United Way of Spartanburg County; and trustee and vice chair of the Spartanburg School District No. 7.
In addition, he served the Presbyterian Church in variety of capacities, including as a member of the Corporate Board of the Foothills Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and an elder, clerk of session, deacon, chair of the board and chair of the Pastor Nominating Committee of the First Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg.
Pat received numerous awards and recognitions in his life, including the Young Man of the Year Award presented by the Spartanburg Junior Chamber of Commerce; Distinguished Eagle Scout, presented by the Boy Scouts of America; The Morgan Award, presented by the General Daniel Morgan Society of the United Way of the Piedmont; The Neville Holcombe Distinguished Citizenship Award, presented by the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce; and the Chief Justice Claude Ambrose Taylor Distinguished Service Award, presented by the Spartanburg County Bar Association.
Edward P. “Pat” Perrin died on May 21, 2015. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Anne P. Zeigler Perrin; his children, Anne P. Flynn (Lawrence), Sallie P. White and Edward P. Perrin Jr. (Linda); grandchildren, Lawrence E. Flynn III, Tatum Z. Flynn, Anne P.F. Burnett, Perrin P. White, J. Rhoades White Jr., Abigail L. Perrin and Edward P. Perrin III; and his great-grandchildren, Lucy E. Flynn and John Z. Flynn.