Perry Kimbrel was the youngest son of Millie Milbray Annice (Cook) Kimbrel and Jeremiah K. "Dink" Kimbrel.

Perry Kimbrel had two sisters and eleven brothers:

[1] Infant Son Kimbrel, 1874, 1874
[2] Leroy Kimbrel, 1879, 1952
[3] Infant son Kimbrel, 1879, 1879
[4] Infant son G.F. Kimbrel, 1882, 1882
[5] Gertude Kimbrel, 1884, 1977
[6] Luther Kimbrel, 1885, 1955
[7] Nancy Kimbrel, 1888, 1974
[8] John Kimbrel, 1891, 1957
[9] William Wright Kimbrel, 1893, 1976
[10] James Gary Kimbrel, 1894, 1947
[11] Julian Kimbrel, 1897, 1951
[12] Eager K. Kimbrel, 1900, 1961
[13] Charles W. Kimbrel, 1901, 1943

Perry Kimbrel was the husband of Alva (Nicholson) Kimbrel 1914-2003

Alva (Nicholson) Kimbrel and Perry Kimbrel were the parents of two children:

[1] Robert "Bobby" Kimbrel, 1932-1935
[2] Ralph Kimbrel, 1936- Living

Note: Perry Kimbrel's actual death date was March 9, 1974, GA State Death Certificate, File No. 8433. The incorrect date shown on head stone was recorded in family Bible.

Perry Kimbrel grew up in a farming family and was a farmer in Miller County. Later he moved to Valdosta GA and became a carpenter, painter and brick & block layer. He moved back to Miller County and continued as a self employed carpenter, painter and brick & block layer.

Biography provided by Ralph Kimbrel, 47951000.

Perry Kimbrel and Alva (Nicholson) Kimbrel Biography

Perry Kimbrel was Millie Milbria Annice (Cook) Kimbrel, and Jeremiah K. (Dink) Kimbrel’s fourteenth child but eleventh living child. Perry Kimbrel was born in Miller County, Georgia on January 19, 1904. Theodore Roosevelt is our 26th. President. Perry was not married when his parents died, he was 22 years old when his mother Millie died of a bad case of diabetes on January 27, 1926 and Perry’s older brother John was already married so he and his wife Lucy lived with their father Jeremiah to take care of him. Perry worked on the family farm with John. When it rained and it was too wet for them to work, Perry would take his guitar and walk down the road to visit his kin or neighbors strumming a tune as he walked there and back. Perry and Charles were born four years apart but were very close and grew up together and stayed close together in adulthood. They both moved to Valdosta Georgia and were working as carpenters in Valdosta where Charles met, and married Gladys Penny and Perry met, and married Alva Nicholson in 1930. Charles, Gladys, Perry and Alva all moved back to Miller County after the death of Charles and Perry’s father Jeremiah. Perry was always quiet and reserved but when he formed an opinion dynamite couldn’t change his mind. He preferred buying groceries at the country store where he wrote the grocery list down and added it where he could see the list. He thought that the cash registers were too fast and subject to overcharging where he couldn’t see it working. He was an honest man and expected honesty in return. He loved his family above all else and Alva was the other half. Where Perry was quiet and stayed in the background, Alva was outgoing, and people oriented. Her Avon business was to be admired. She knew her product and believed in the value of make-up to make one look better. This kind of thinking probably lasted all of her life. Perry learned early to work with his hands and tools and appreciated recycling long before it became popular, bringing home good lumber that was being thrown away at the job site. He once took a vertical window out in the kitchen of their home and reinstalled it back in a horizontal position so that the breeze would enter at face level making it more comfortable when Alva was cooking. He was always making improvements for Alva. He made her the nicest chicken house with screen wire for ventilation and building nest on the outside and a brooder on the inside for the young. Alva loved her chickens and her flowers and took very good care of both. Perry did not shrink his work or responsibility, working as long as he could. Their home was always a pleasant place for visitors. Perry always said, the Bible says, “Let every day take care of itself, lay not treasures”. He believed that if he worked for today’s needs, there would be a job for tomorrow, and he was willing to go wherever that job was. He did not try to impress people but was an old fashion man who ask no man for anything but was more than willing to share what he had. Perry and Alva’s first son Robert was born on February 2, 1932 and they were proud parents. Perry and Alva really enjoyed the Saturday movies. They started early and continued watching the movie until almost midnight. They watched the movie just keep repeating. There was always the show, the News, a cartoon and a serial that ended in a hair-raising experience leaving you in suspense until the next week. Once you were inside you could watch as long as you liked. Watching the Saturday movies was one of the things that helped them after Bobby’s death on May 6, 1936, and Alva was carrying their second son Ralph which was born six months later on November 9, 1936. Both Perry and Charles families lived in houses near their sister Gertrude Kimbrel, who had purchased several hundred acers of land, and her two brothers Charles and Perry were farming the land for her during World War II. Charles was farming his part of the land under a government program called the Rehabilitation Program. The government helps by instructing the farmers with new farming procedures. Also, the Home Demonstration Agent came out to the farm to teach the wives to can and preserve food for the family, and how to improve the home. When Charles died on May 30, 1943 Perry almost went crazy with grief but recovered because he still had his wife and son to care for and his son to raise. Perry and Alva’s raised their son Ralph to follow their example, never lie or steal, always respect those that are older than him, always obey official laws, regulations, procedures, and follow instructions given by those in charge as long as those instructions are legal. As his son got older Perry also taught him carpenter work and farm work because their family moved several times from Colquitt to Valdosta and then back to Colquitt. Ralph finished the first and second school grades in Colquitt, then the family moved to Valdosta where he completed the third grade through the eighth grade and then moved back to Colquitt where he completed all of high school and graduated from Miller County (Colquitt) High School. When they were living in Valdosta, they were doing carpentry work, when they were in Miller County, they were either doing farm work or carpentry work. In the process Ralph learned how to farm and he learned how to build houses. Alva was a dental assistant when they lived in Valdosta and she worked as a nurse and also sold Avon products when they lived in Miller County. Ralph joined the United States Air Force in 1955 and he married his wife Shizuko while serving in Japan and they had three children. Ralph and his family were living at Luke AFB, Arizona when his father Perry died on March 9, 1974. Ralph had retired from the Air Force and he and his family were living in Virginia and he was working at NASA Langley in Hampton Virginia when his mother Alva died on March 12, 2003. Ralph, Shizuko and family were there to help with each of their funeral arrangements.

Biography By: Laverne ‘Kimbrel’ Shaw and Ralph Kimbrel 47951000