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PERA, ROD J. Rod J. Pera, Leader in Education, Dies at 73 Rod J. Pera, who led major educational institutions and foundations focused on education in New Mexico and Pennsylvania, died on Monday, July 14, 2014, at his home in Santa Fe, NM. He was 73. His wife, Mary Kay Pera, the past president of the New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care, confirmed his death, the result of cancer. Mr. Pera led the Sandia Foundation, founded in Albuquerque to aid and assist educational institutions, as its Chairman, and was one of the founders of the Bosque School, a private school in Albuquerque where over a third of the student body receives more than $2.0 million in need-based financial support. He began serving on the Board of Trustees of Bosque in 1995. Prior to moving to Santa Fe in 1994, Mr. Pera resided in south central Pennsylvania where, among his many contributions to the community, he served as President and CEO of the Milton Hershey School, the largest and wealthiest pre-college, residential education program in the United States. Mr. Pera cared deeply about the school and worked to modernize the curriculum and approach to education at the Milton Hershey School, which was founded by Milton Hershey in 1909 as a school for destitute white orphan boys. The Deed of Trust was later amended to admit girls and minorities into the School. Mr. Pera's journey to the helm of the Milton Hershey School commenced at his law firm, McNees, Wallace & Nurick, the largest law firm in Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg. He served as managing partner at the firm from 1984 to 1992 and worked closely with the Hershey Trust Company, which funds the Milton Hershey School, and with its affiliates, Hershey Foods Corporation and Hershey Entertainment and Resort Company. He served for many years on the boards of all three of these companies and the school, including in the chairman role at the trust and school, and, through these oversight roles, his passionate commitment to education grew. Prior to joining the McNees firm in 1966, he graduated from Hershey Junior College, Dickinson College, Dean's List, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Cum Laude, and clerked for Justice Samuel J. Roberts of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Raised in the Hershey area by his mother, the late Marie (Peg) Duffy, Mr. Pera is the grandson of an immigrant from Sorano, Italy who came to the Hershey region as a teenager and worked in the Cornwall stone quarries, stone from which was used to build the chocolate factory. As a youth, Mr. Pera ran the merry-go-round at Hershey Park, the original ride of the famed amusement park and one that has been run by a long line of individuals who went on to become successful professionals. Earlier, in second grade, he met Mary Kay Porr, and the two, who were friends all through Hershey elementary, junior and high schools, and Hershey Junior College, eventually married and just recently celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. In addition to his wife, Mary Kay Pera, he is survived by his siblings Al Pera, Jeanne Deimler, and Brenda Pera; daughters Lauren Klingsberg and Lisa Pera, their husbands Ethan Klingsberg and Alan Price; and five grandchildren, Jaime, Elizabeth, Shula, Aaron and Judah. A memorial celebration will be held in the near future in Albuquerque. The family has requested, in lieu of flowers, that memorial contributions be made to the Rod J. Pera and Mary Kay Pera Endowment Scholarship Fund, Bosque School, with a memo to the Fund, 4000 Learning Road, Albuquerque, NM 87120.
        Published on: Sun July 20, 2014