Joseph and Teresa Perdue met in May 1951 when Joseph was a summer student from UBC. Throughout their lives, they encouraged people of all ages to pursue higher learning and shared a deep belief in the value of education.

Joseph H. Perdue was born in New Westminster, BC, in 1921. At the young age of 17, he enlisted in the Canadian Navy, where he served until the end of World War II. After his service, he took a Canadian government-sponsored opportunity to further his education and graduated from UBC with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1952. He was among one of the last groups of Canadian World War II veterans to graduate from UBC.

The university also helped Joseph find summer jobs, which provided him the opportunity to go to the Yukon for three years in a row, and later to South Slocan, BC. He always said his years at UBC were happy ones, and he made many lifelong friends. Joseph credited his UBC education for his successful career, retiring at the age of 68. He passed away on April 6, 2017, at the age of 96.  

Teresa M. Perdue was born in London, England, in 1930 and grew up during World War II. In 1948, at the age of 17, she travelled by boat to Halifax and then by train to South Slocan to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, where she took an office job at the West Kootenay Power and Light Company. In May 1951, she met Joseph, who was a summer student from UBC, and they were married in December of that year. She moved with him to Vancouver while he completed his final year at UBC.  

After Joseph’s graduation, he and Teresa moved to Toronto, where they raised their five children—Catherine, Brian, Julie, Dan and Colleen. One of their greatest joys in life was their family, which grew to include nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Joseph proudly lived to see one of his grandsons, Dylan Perdue, graduate from the UBC Faculty of Applied Science, 64 years after he did. Teresa passed away on January 16, 2025, just before her 95th birthday. 

Joseph and Teresa are now reunited, remembered for their kindness, curiosity and lifelong commitment to learning.

The Joseph Perdue Memorial Bursary in Electrical Engineering was established by family and friends to support Bachelor of Applied Science students specializing in electrical engineering at UBC. Your gift will honour Joseph and Teresa’s commitment to education by ensuring their legacy of learning continues to inspire and support generations of UBC students. 

Bursaries totalling $1,000 are awarded annually and adjudicated by Enrolment Services.