Vero Beach lost one of its most compassionate animal lovers Sunday with the passing of Cornelia Pérez following a stalwart six-month battle with cancer. Pérez died May 15, just days before her 74th birthday.
A soft-spoken woman with a soft spot for “those who cannot speak for themselves,” as the animal welfare slogan goes, Pérez began volunteering with homeless animals around age 12, when she would ride her bicycle over to the original shelter and walk the rescued dogs.
Pérez had moved here as a child in 1948 with her parents Lucy and Herschel Auxier. For 42 years, her mother was co-owner with Alma Lee Loy of a popular downtown children’s shop. Her father developed a cattle ranch west of Wabasso.
With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Colorado, Pérez returned to Vero around 1983 and set down roots, marrying Tomas Réne Pérez and raising their family.
For 13 years, Pérez taught kindergarten at Saint Edward’s School, having pitched the idea for a kindergarten program to then Headmaster Peter Benedict. Later she would become a volunteer education coordinator at the Humane Society, visiting public school children to talk about caring for pets.
Pérez helped out at the Humane Society wherever she saw a need. She was equally at home serving on the board of directors as she was working in the shelter’s laundry.
The creator of many programs to encourage people to donate – including the popular Guardian Angel program, which puts people’s names on various dog runs and cat condos –Pérez worked tirelessly for the group’s annual fundraiser, Cause for Paws. In the late 1990s, she co-chaired the capital campaign to build the $6 million facility on 77th Street.
She and her husband adopted countless dogs over the years, primarily taking in those special needs or elderly dogs that nobody else wanted. And when there was no more room at the Pérez home, she would send out e-blasts to hundreds of contacts seeking homes for animals, many of them orphaned when their owners passed away.
Interviewed by this writer for another publication 11 years ago, Pérez said her epitaph should simply read “a child of God, a friend to animals.”
“That’s my mother in a nutshell,” said daughter Bretton Jenks. “My mom did more for people, two-legged and four-legged, than even I realized. She really didn’t want or need recognition for what she did; she wanted to help people from her heart.”
Along with her husband, daughter, son Jason Perez of Denver and five grandchildren, she leaves behind five dogs and a grand-dog, her family noted.
Funeral services will be private. Donations may be made to the local Humane Society or to the Women’s Refuge of Vero Beach.
