Benjamin Dale

Perdeye

Benjamin Dale Perdeye, 86, passed away on November 11, 2026, at Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb, Mississippi. Dale was a lifelong woodsman, professional forester, avid golfer, devoted husband and father, proud grandfather, and friend.

Dale was born on June 30, 1940, at Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was the only son of Benjamin and Elise Perdeye and grew up with his two sisters, Sylvia Flood and Laura Todd.

He attended St. John’s Catholic School in Tuscaloosa and St. Bernard High School in Cullman before graduating from Tuscaloosa High School. He went on to Auburn University, where he enrolled in Naval ROTC and served on the Air Force ROTC Drill Team. He later served for five years in the Marine Corps Reserve in Birmingham, Alabama.

In 1964, Dale earned his bachelor’s degree in forest management from Auburn and began his career with the Commonwealth of Kentucky in Somerset. There, he met Norma, the love of his life and best friend. They were married for 61 years.

Dale returned to Alabama to work for the Alabama Forestry Commission. In 1966, he became a district forester with Domtar/U.S. Plywood–Champion Papers, Inc. Based in Tuscaloosa, he helped acquire land and timber in northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. He joined Weyerhaeuser Company in 1973 and was later promoted to raw material manager in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He spent 28 years in Philadelphia before transferring to Weyerhaeuser’s McComb operations, where he retired in 2008 after 35 years with the company.

At Weyerhaeuser, Dale led efforts to supply timber to the company’s plants and helped develop early computer models for timber harvesting, volume estimates, and appraisals. He also worked with equipment manufacturers to introduce sawhead technology and truck scales into logging operations. In 1984, he was selected to attend Weyerhaeuser’s Leadership Institute in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. He continued to share what he had learned after retirement, leading seminars on using statistics in timber inventories.

Dale was a member of the Society of American Foresters and served as its Northern Zone chairman in Alabama. He was also a member of the Council on Forest Engineering and a past member of the Mississippi Forestry Association and the Neshoba County Forestry Association. He taught in Auburn University’s Procurement Practicum for two years.

Dale attended St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in McComb, where he had sung in the choir and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He loved playing golf and cheering for the Auburn Tigers. He took great pride in his children and grandchildren and loved spending time with them.

Dale was preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin and Elise Perdeye.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Norma Perdeye. He is also survived by his daughter, Leigh Ann (Bradley) of McComb, Mississippi, and his son, John (Christy) of Clinton, Mississippi. His four grandchildren are Hannah Creel, Hallie Creel, Keegan Perdeye, and Aireyal Barrett.

Visitation and services will be at St. Alphonsus on Saturday, November 14th. The Officiants will be Fr. Suresh Thirumalareddy and Fr. Bill Henry.. Visitation begins at 9:30 a.m. with services to follow at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Riverwood Memorial Cemetery

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to St. Alphonsus Catholic Church