Lawrance (Larry) Perks, who edited the diocese of Niagara’s newspaper for 29 years, died Oct. 14 at the age of 74 after a lengthy illness. His funeral service took place at Christ’s Church Cathedral in Hamilton, Ont.Born in Mordern, a suburb south of London, Mr. Perks began his journalism career at age 14 as a copy boy. He served in the British military for two years after World War II, then emigrated to Australia. From there, he made his way to Canada, landing in Moose Jaw, Sask., where he became the Herald’s youngest city editor at the age of 29.In the early 1970s, he moved to Hamilton, Ont., where he was an editor on the city desk. In the 1980s, he joined the journalism faculty at Ryerson University in Toronto and pursued his passion, mentoring young journalists. He also played a key role in launching, developing and judging the Automobile Journalists’ Association of Canada awards. He worked part-time on the Toronto Star’s night copy desk in order to stay in touch with the latest in news, trends and computer editing techniques. After he retired in 2001 from the Niagara Anglican, his daughter, Megan Strohschein, succeeded him for several months. Mr. Perks was an honorary lay canon of Christ’s Church Cathedral and a recipient of the Order of Niagara. He is also survived by his wife, Roddie, who worked for the Niagara Anglican as advertising manager and photographer, another daughter, Sara, a son, Randall and several grandchildren.
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