Patricia Perry Amato

Patricia Perry Amato, 82, of 116 Ainsley Road, passed away Sunday, October 20, 2024, in her home where she was being cared for by family.

Mrs. Amato was born in Perquimans County on July 22, 1942, and was the daughter of the late Ralph Emerson and Ira Rebecca Copeland Perry. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husbands, John Nurney Wiggins, Jr. and Louis Joseph “Lou” Amato, sisters, Bessie Sawyer, Lessie Amato, Viola Overman, Lucy Jennings, Madeline Langley, and an infant sister Alice Louise Perry, and by a brother, Rudolph Perry.

A 1961 graduate of Perquimans County High School, in earlier years she had served as a teacher’s aide in Special Education with Gates County Public Schools, and later retired from Pelikan Ink in Edenton. A member of Happy Home Pentecostal Holiness Church, other enjoyments included making ceramics and sewing, having made different outfits for many of her family.

Surviving are her three sons, Johnny Dwayne Wiggins (wife, Lorraine) of Hobbsville, and Gerald and Reginald Wiggins, both of Hertford; a sister, Lenona Perry of Hertford; three brothers, T.E. Perry of Hobbsville, Curtis Perry of Hertford, and Joe Perry of Tyner. Also surviving are Lou’s children, Jackie Poarch, and Ronald, Steve, and Robert Amato. Together Pat and Lou shared 17 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, October 27, at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Miller & Van Essendelft Funeral Home, 1125 Harvey Point Road, Hertford, and will be conducted by the Rev. Logan Perry. The burial will follow in the Copeland Family Cemetery. Friends may visit with the family Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the funeral home, and all other times at the residence.

Memorial contributions may be made either to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, 2361 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10306 or to International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, 303 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2300, Chicago, IL 60601-5224.

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.