Four years ago, Jacqueline Perry (DH ‘97) led an extremely busy life. Now, the rush of her  schedule still keeps her on her toes. Today her life revolves around working for Dr. James Kinoshita in Tacoma , Wash. , three days a week, and on the weekends she flies with Alaska Airlines from Alaska to Mexico . But Perry’s life wasn’t always like this. At the age of 30, Perry decided to finish college, and found herself at the School of Dentistry . “I was still flying during school.” says Perry. “I’d leave Kansas City on Friday, fly to Tacoma , work all weekend, and head back to Kansas City on Sunday.”

Perry was determined to earn her bachelor’s degree and be the first member of her family to graduate when her father passed away three months before she was to graduate. Despite the loss of her father, Perry finished, ranking fourth in her class of 1997. Perry received honors such as the Chancellor’s Non-Resident Scholarship, Colgate-Palmolive “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures” Award, and Dean’s Honor Roll. 

Perry started an emergency relief fund at UMKC for hygiene students in need of emergency money for things such as a death in the family, which is currently run by the Rinehart Foundation and overseen by Kim Bray, a UMKC professor.

“Twice a year, I donate money, and will con-tinue to” she said. “I set it up to remember my father and all he did for me, and to help students to concentrate on school, not on money.”