Perry attended the University of North Carolina and graduated from American University. He earned a law degree at the University of Maryland in 1969. He worked as an attorney in the office of the D.C. Corporation Counsel from 1970 to 1980. He lived in Arlington and was an amateur photographer and astronomer. Sadly, he was killed on April 9, 1982, when he jumped from the Key Bridge. His death was ruled a suicide. Survivors included his mother, Lois Perry Meng; his father, S. Shepard Jones, of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and a brother, Samual S. Jones Jr, of Chevy Chase.