Carrie Perillo

Carrie Ann Perillo, age 53, died Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Huntington, New York from cancer.

Perillo was born Carrie Ann Thomas on Nov. 26, 1970, at Huron Regional Medical Center in Huron, South Dakota. She spent her earliest years in Norfolk, Virginia, but moved back to South Dakota before kindergarten. She attended Huron public schools and the University of South Dakota in Vermillion before settling in nearby Yankton in the mid-1990s. There, she worked several jobs, including at the Human Services Center, JoDean’s restaurant and the Chateau Lounge.

Carrie married Kurt Lorenz of Yankton in 2000, becoming a second mother to two daughters, Jamie and Ashley. Carrie and Kurt moved to New Mexico in 2001, where Carrie worked at the Pasta Cafe in Rio Rancho. She moved to Huntington, New York, in 2007, where she would marry Michael Perillo. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from State University of New York-Old Westbury in 2009. She learned tax preparation in Huntington and served clients until near the end of her life.

Carrie played host to roommates in every home she had, including in Huntington. Her willingness to take in others was just one touchpoint in a life defined by a deep and unrelenting concern for others. Family and friends could scarcely beat back her overtures of hospitality and generosity in moments of real or perceived need.

She was a natural caregiver for those closest to her, but closeness was rarely further than five minutes removed from any stranger’s first meeting with Carrie. Call it epic empathy or cosmic connection – words she’d be too humble to use to describe herself but would surely apply to a kindred spirit – but few who crossed her path would walk away without catching at least a glimmer of the easy and genuine love she had for all that breathes.

Cashiers at grocery stores might learn they were beautiful and appreciated, and that their families were blessed by their presence. Her children's teenage friends might hear about the certain success and joy their wit and personality would deliver as they grew into the wonderful people she already knew they were. A server chewed out by an impolite patron at the same restaurant she’d picked for lunch might leave work with half the tips Carrie had collected the night before.

She made people feel special, because she truly believed that everyone is. The world was brightened by her presence, but she wouldn’t want anyone to call it less bright or hopeful without her in it.

 

Perillo is survived by her husband and sister-in-law Michael Perillo and Angela Russo of Huntington, N.Y.; parents Dale and Elizabeth Hult of Sioux Falls; stepchildren Jamie Lorenz of Yankton, S.D., and Ashley and Maurice Erickson of Colorado Springs, Colo.; grandchildren Damien, Gemma and Maple Gereaux of Yankton, and Parris, Nova and Evan Erickson of Colorado Springs; siblings Jeff and Julie Hult of Huron, John Hult and Janelle Atyeo of Sioux Falls, and Mary Hult and Nick Sergi of Jamaica, N.Y.; her birth father, Charles Thomas of Neosho, Mo.; and many nieces, nephews and cherished friends who’d become family, including Santos Gracia of Huntington, Minna Barrett of Connecticut; Channing Rose of Phoenix, Ariz., and Rita Taylor of Sioux Falls, S.D.

A memorial service and celebration of life will take place at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 2024, at First Baptist Church in Huron, S.D. Friends and family are invited to visit and share stories, and there will be a Zoom link for those unable to attend. Call 605-413-6223 for information on virtual attendance.