‘Perk’ Lackore’s legacy of community service lives on in donation

In life, Marie Perkins Lackore – or “Perk” as she was known – was a community stalwart who managed the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce during the high-growth 1950s before becoming a medical secretary and longtime Peninsula Blood Bank volunteer.

In death, she continues to contribute to the community through her bequest of the majority of her estate to Mission Hospice. The gift, totaling $765,000, is one of the largest Mission Hospice has ever received from an individual donor. 

“‘How can I help?’ was more or less Perk’s mantra,” recalled Dan Rogers, a Millbrae businessman who is the trustee of her estate. “She wanted to make as much of an impact as possible by leaving the bulk of her estate to a non-denominational community charity, and Mission Hospice was the charity she chose.”

Perk certainly accomplished her goal, according to Mission Hospice CEO Dwight Wilson. “It’s donations like these that allow Mission Hospice to provide in-home care to people during the last part of their lives, regardless of insurance or ability to pay,” Wilson said.

Rogers said Perk chose Mission Hospice many years ago – long before she became a Mission Hospice patient just a week and a half before her death last March, a month short of her 101st birthday.

“When Mission Hospice was founded 30 years ago, she was in her 70s, so she would have watched Mission Hospice grow and witnessed its benefits to her friends and their families,” he said. “Perk appreciated the sensitivity and care Mission Hospice had shown.”

Marie Lackore was born in Oklahoma but met her husband, Charles, when she was a student at Chicago University in 1936. After the Pearl Harbor attack, she became executive secretary and assistant civil defense director under Col. Max Graham during World War II.

The Lackores, who were childless, moved to Millbrae and bought a new home in 1950. Charles, a salesman, died in 1951. By that time, Perk had become manager/executive secretary of the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce. Rogers remembers that she travelled around town on a Cushman motor scooter. It was a busy time for Millbrae with new developments, like Millsdale Industrial Park, and new subdivisions, including Meadow Glen, Mills Estate and others.

“More often that not, it was Perk’s foot on the shovel at each groundbreaking, where she was surrounded by male politicos and developers,” added Rogers. She left the Chamber in 1958 to become a medical secretary. After retirement, she volunteered more than 5,000 hours to Peninsula Blood Bank in Burlingame.

‘Perk’ Lackore at her 100th birthday party in 2008	'Perk' Lackore at a groundbreaking