Dr. Ivan W. Perkinson 1945-2023

Married since March 1963, Ivan and his high school sweetheart, Peggy, have 3 grown children, 9 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.  .



Ivan retired 3 times: First as a professional speaker and marketing consultant, having logged over 3 million air miles of travel, giving presentations in 49 of the 50 states. His second retirement was founding pastor of Matoaca Christian Fellowship with 600 daily radio broadcasts entitled " An Encouraging Word with  Ivan Perkinson".

His most recent retirement was Perkinson Aftercare Service during which time he made over ten thousand in-home visits in central Virginia. For 18 years, he helped families with the maze of paperwork and phone calls necessary to settle the estate of a deceased loved one and helped them with probate matters in eight circuit courts in central Virginia.

Art in the Family . . . The beginning
Ivan is the twin brother of the well-known Richmond, Virginia dentist and artist Dr. W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr.  Ivan earned his doctorate from a seminary and Baxter earned his doctorate from a dental school.  Even though they don't look like twins and certainly have had very different career paths, they share one common talent and passion . . . they both paint watercolors.

Both men began painting as adults, having never even doodled as boys.  Baxter began painting at the age of 35 inspired and coached by his next door neighbor, artist Elly Cox (Wife of Richmond, Virginia news anchor Gene Cox).  Ivan began painting at the age of 46 inspired and coached by his twin brother. 

At a Christmas party at Baxter's house in 1990, Ivan was admiring his twin's recent paintings and said "I'd give anything to paint like that." Baxter replied, "You know it didn't come to me naturally.  It's a skill you can learn, like playing the piano or typing. If you really want to paint, I'll teach you.  Come to my house on Saturday's and we'll paint together.   

That first lesson took place many years ago on Saturday, February 16, 1991.  Baxter simply told Ivan, "I'm not really going to teach you.  We're twins.  So we must think alike."  He set up a card table next to his art table and told Ivan "Stand next to me and just do exactly what I do."  They painted 3 identical snow scene paintings that day.  If you visit their homes, you can see the framed paintings proudly hanging today.

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Today, both men are well known as professional watercolor artists.  Their paintings are strikingly different.  Ivan focuses more on memories of historical settings with great emphasis on detail while Baxter is much more impressionistic and free.

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(After a 5 months battle with cancer, Ivan passed away January 23, 2023.)