HERKIMER-Barbara Gokey Perkins age 45 of Lemont Street, Bath Maine passed away on Tuesday May 6, 2008 in her home following a long and courageous battle with Multiple Sclerosis. She was born on November 30, 1962 in Herkimer, daughter of Ruth Schifferdecker Gokey and the late Ellison Gokey. Barbara was raised in Herkimer where she was a graduate of Herkimer High School with the class of 1980. She furthered her education at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, graduating in 1984 and then received her Masters Degree in Special Education from the State University of New York at Albany in 1985. On July 19, 1986 she was united in marriage with Steven L. Perkins in Herkimer. Mrs. Perkins was a social worker in New York and Massachusetts before retiring due to her disability and moving to Bath, ME in 2000. Barbara was a very gifted vocal musician who for many years sang in choirs, theatrical productions and the opera. She was also an excellent swimmer and taught swimming lessons, life guard certification and water safety courses. She enjoyed hiking, working in her gardens, cooking, antiquing and her pet cats. Barbara faced her disability head on. She always kept a positive attitude and a smile on her face. She was preceded in death by her father, Ellison as a young girl. Surviving, are her loving husband of twenty-one years Steven, her mother Ruth Gokey and sister, Cheryl Gokey both of Herkimer, her mother-in-law, Ann H. Perkins, a sister-in-law, Kathleen and her husband Sheldon Bird, a brother-in-law, Richard W. Perkins all of Bath, ME and two nephews. A Celebration of Barbaras Life will be held on Saturday afternoon June 14th, at 2:00 pm in the First Baptist Church Herkimer. The Reverend Patti Lawrence, Pastor and the Reverend David Kirkpatrick Pastor Emeritus will officiate. Interment in Calvary Cemetery, Herkimer will be private and at the convenience of the family. Expressions of sympathy may be made with memorial donations to the Barbara Gokey Perkins Music Scholarship Fund, c/o Herkimer High School. 801 West German Street, Herkimer, NY 13350. Funeral arrangements are with Fenner Funeral Home Inc., Herkimer.