Nelli Kalipse Simsar Perez

July 2, 1937 - February 17, 2022

Nelli Perez, 84, passed away peacefully on February 17, 2022. Nelli was born in 1937, in a small town just outside Istanbul, Turkey. As a young girl she enjoyed her summers swimming in the Black Sea. She would recall the blackouts during the war, and watching Nazi planes flying overhead. Nelli moved to the United States to attend college in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she met her husband, Victor Perez, a student from the Dominican Republic. They married in 1963, and their son Eugene was born later that same year. Nelli taught at a school for students with special needs in Chelsea, Michigan, before moving with her family to the Dominican Republic in the mid-1970s, where she became Guidance Counselor at the American school. The family welcomed a daughter, Arlene, while living in the Dominican Republic. In 2003, Nelli moved to Tallahassee to be closer to her son and his family, after her daughter was tragically killed in the Dominican Republic. In Tallahassee, Nelli worked at Little Lambs Preschool (John Wesley Methodist Church) and enjoyed frequent visits with her grandchildren before retiring. Nelli is preceded in death by her husband Victor, and daughter Arlene. She is survived by her son, Eugene Perez, her daughter-in-law, Kim Schneggenburger Perez and grandchildren, Michael Perez and Emily Perez, all of Tallahassee. No public service is planned at this time.