Denise Condie-Perez

Denise Condie-Pérez passed away in her home on the evening of August 11, 2020. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and went into remission before the cancer returned in 2017. She gracefully endured treatment for her last three years while spending time with her family. Denise is survived by her husband of 38 years, Mario Pérez; their four children Adam Pérez, Alex Pérez and his wife Maggie Pérez, Sabrina Pérez Williams and her husband Travis Williams, and Summer Pérez; grandchildren Clarke, Hattie, Albert and Ivy Pérez, and Juliet, Gideon, and Rosemary Williams; parents William Condie and Marian Condie; brother Paul Condie and sisters Roxanne Graham and Felicia Smith. Denise was born on June 21, 1957 in San Antonio, Texas. With her father serving in the US Air Force, she grew up a military brat. She was able to call many places home, including Japan, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Michigan, Maryland, Thailand, and Utah where she graduated from Tooele High School and went on to study at Brigham Young University. She met her future husband, Mario, while they were both serving as full-time missionaries in the Chile Osorno mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were married in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple on February 24, 1982 and moved shortly thereafter to Santiago, Chile where they had their first son Adam Rex. They moved back to the states to continue Mario’s education at Brigham Young University. Denise also completed her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and had their second son Alex Clarke. Following graduation, Denise and her growing family moved to Crofton, Maryland, where shortly after she gave birth to Sabrina Giselle. Five years later they welcomed Summer Nichole into the family. After 13 pleasant years in Maryland, she relocated with her family to Los Alamos, New Mexico where Denise enjoyed small town living. They returned to the East Coast eight years later to Oakton, Virginia where she lived out the rest of her life. Above all, Denise was a woman of family and faith. She lived her life to serve her family, her friends and her God. Her greatest joy was working as a stay-at-home mother and using her time and talents to help and teach her children. As a mother, her children remember that Denise was creative, energetic, compassionate, and lived her life with integrity. She enjoyed cooking and became a master bread baker. She made bread almost every day while her children were growing up, and she regularly made cookies for after-school snacks. She was a very talented seamstress and loved sewing matching outfits for her children to wear, often working late into the night to get the Easter and Christmas dresses done. She cultivated other artistic hobbies, such as tole painting, cross-stitching, calligraphy, stenciling, stamping, scrapbooking, quilting, embroidery and digital design. She organized all areas of her family’s life. She maintained detailed menus and budgets, even writing events on the family calendar using a color-coding system. She planned detailed trip itineraries to the many places she took her family, including stops to see her siblings and parents along the way. She spent a great deal of time teaching her children from the scriptures on a daily and weekly basis. Her children remember reading the scriptures together and singing church songs around the piano while she played. Denise truly treasured the years spent raising her children. She attended the many life events and celebrations of her children, and later her grandchildren. She lived by the family motto she created: Perezes attend. Denise was an avid reader and enjoyed reading mysteries and fantasy—especially Harry Potter. She enjoyed reading books to her children and grandchildren. She loved to daydream about houses, often drawing up plans to add on to her current home or visiting houses in the area for inspiration. She loved to curl up with a 90s rom-com or listen to baseball games on the radio while she cleaned, running over to the TV when a big play was happening. Denise worked in many capacities during her life including: providing daycare to neighborhood children, teaching piano, teaching Spanish at a private academy, transcribing and translating court proceedings, and working as a security specialist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, DynCorp International, and RAND Corporation. In every position she held, Denise fully dedicated her time, energy and talents. Central to Denise’s life was her faith. As a member of the LDS church, she had a strong belief in Jesus Christ and loved studying the scriptures. She built her life on her love of God. She showed her faith and love through service to others. As a youth she served on a seminary council, as a young adult she served as a missionary and as a president to the women’s organization, Relief Society. Later she went on to serve the children in her area as a Stake Primary President, the youth as a Stake Young Women’s President and seminary teacher, and in various capacities with local leadership. She also made many friends by visiting them regularly and serving them as a teacher, companion, and friend. She often shared her talent of music by playing the piano and organ and singing in choirs and groups. Denise also supported her husband Mario in all of his church service, including his current responsibilities as a bishop for their local congregation. Denise found joy in serving her family and those around her. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends. A memorial service celebrating Denise’s life is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time at the Oakton LDS Church. Due to limited capacity for the funeral, friends and family are welcome to join the service via recording here: Denise’s Memorial Service. In lieu of flowers, donations in Denise’s honor may be made to the Humanitarian Aid Fund for Latter-day Saint Charities.

Denise Condie-Perez

June 21, 1957 - August 11, 2020