We regret to advise of the death of Sergeant Kenneth James Perigo, CD (Ret’d) in Cold Lake AB on 12 January 2021 at age 47 after losing his battle with Pancreatic Cancer. Ken had served the Canadian Forces for 27 years in the Reserves and the Regular Force as an Infantryman and as a Canadian Military Engineer.
Ken was born and educated in Orillia ON. He began his military career in the Primary Reserve as a high school student when he joined the Primary Reserves with the Grey & Simcoe Foresters in April 1991. He completed his Basic and Battle School training at CFB Borden in July 1991 followed by the Infantry Section Commanders course in 1993 at Camp Ipperwash ON. That summer he also completed his recce patrolman’s course CFB Petawawa where he was the top candidate. He was promoted to Master Corporal later that year.
Ken had his first experience with full-time military service as a Regular Force augmentee when he joined the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment as a recce patrolman for the UNPROFOR tour in the Former Yugoslavia in 1994. After returning home, Ken worked for the Grey and Simcoe Foresters on a Class B call-out as the Company Storeman until he was offered a civilian apprenticeship in the sheet metal trade and he took his release from Reserves. But Ken missed the military lifestyle and he enlisted in the Regular Force in December 1997.
Ken joined the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Having prior military experience, he was granted Direct Entry and became a rifleman in Alpha Company, 1 PPCLI in Edmonton. As soon as he hit the ground in Edmonton, he was deployed to help restore power and aid residents during the 1988 Ice Storm in Ontario and Quebec.
He was soon promoted to Corporal and completed his TOW (Tube launched, optically tracked, wire command link) guided missile gunners course in the Spring of 1998 and was transferred to Anti-Armour Platoon that summer. Ken then deployed to Kosovo in the Former Yugoslavia from September to December 1999 as part of the NATO force. He had a subsequent deployment to Bosnia as HQ Company Stores 2IC (Oct 2002-April 2003).
After six years as an infantryman with the PPCLI, in the Fall 2003 Ken decided to change his Military Occupation and applied for an occupational transfer to the Refrigeration and Mechanical Technician (RM Tech) trade. He was accepted in early 2004 and joined the Base Training Unit in Edmonton where he worked with the Construction Engineering Company for On-Job Training prior to attending his Level 3 training. Ken completed the first part of his Level 3 RM Tech training that Fall at Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering where he was the top candidate. Ken then returned to CFB Edmonton.
Ken returned to CFSME to complete Part 2 of his Level 3 training in the Spring of 2007and was posted to 8 Wing Trenton with 86 Airfield Support Utilities Flight to overhaul, maintain and deploy the Aircraft Arrestor Systems. He was promoted to Master Corporal in 2009 and deployed to Camp Mirage in 2010 where he served until the drawdown. He also deployed to Canadian Forces Station Alert NU during this posting.
After five years in Trenton, Ken was posted to 4 Wing Cold Lake in 2011 with the Wing Construction Engineering Squadron. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2012. Ken’s experience with the airfield arrestor system meant several trips to Inuvik NT for Op NORTHERN DENIAL to operate and command the arrester gear on site. After four years Ken was posted to 42 Radar Squadron in Cold Lake . He retired from the Canadian Forces in March 2018 and started new career as a civilian Mechanical Technician with Regional Property Office (West) Detachment in Cold Lake.
A memorial service will be held for Ken at his home in Cold Lake on 23 January at 11:00 am at his residence (43002 Township Road 634, Cold Lake) on 23 January 2021. Due to COVID restrictions, participation is limited to 10 persons at a time and reservations should be made via FaceBook or Messenger. You are invited to leave messages and photographs on Ken’s FaceBook page ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009428322919 ).
A celebration of his life will take place in Orillia, Ontario in the spring. Ken requested that his ashes be spread in Lake St. George, north of Orillia. A plaque will be placed beside the graves of his deceased family members who are buried in the cemetery at Lake St George. Donations may be made to the Cold Lake Health Centre or the Canadian Cancer Society. Online Condolences can be sent to the funeral home.
