Perez's Military Service Honored with Banner

Christina Lerma and her family gave their dad a memorable gift to honor him and his contribution to his country. The Perez family saw the banners around the city of Colton and it occurred to them, they should put one up for their father, Panfilo Perez, who served in the army. The banner was installed on Valley Blvd in front of the Stater Brothers on June 23. Perez, grew up in Colton and was born to Jesus and Consuelo Perez. He attended and completed grammar school at Wilson Grammar School and during his time in high school, he worked as a livestock farmhand because he had to help his dad support the family. Perez had three sisters and a brother, Alicia, Leonor, Lucio, and Dora. Perez was enlisted in the army from March 29, 1944 to July 1945, and served as a private in the 22nd Infantry Regiment. At the end of his time, he earned a EAME Ribbon, honorable discharge and a Purple Heart Medal. He met his wife, Lydia, through the Dominquez family of Colton and they married on May 29, 1948. Perez worked for Norton Air Force Base at the commissary and at the mess hall and retired from Norton Air Force Base. He had seven kids: Christina, Raymond, Samuel, Patricia, Phillip, Deborah and Katherine Perez. Perez passed away in March 2000. “He loved to go hunting and fishing with his sons... every year they would go to the High Sierras," said his daughter, Christina. "He loved to take the family camping and would load the truck and started [taking] the grand kids to camp at Perris Lake and make menudo for them." She said Perez was “a great dad" and that he took up camping and had great barbecues at home. "He made pots of menudo at home and made the best menudo in town," she said. "He was a disciplinarian and we all respected him. He was a great man, great father, friend, brother and son. Our parents always had the grand kids and they enjoyed taking them to the park and doing things with them."