Heather P. Trew

Published 12:00 am Friday, May 11, 2007

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Heather Perkins Trew, 19, died May 8, 2007, in Jackson, Miss.

She was born on Hilton Head Island on June 17, 1987. Heather attended Sea Pines Montessori School, Hilton Head Preparatory School and Heritage Academy. Heather developed an early childhood love of music and dance and performed in various venues that would one day prepare her to share her passion through music. Her dream was to encourage sick children and promote faith and hope in their challenging moments. She began studying music on Hilton Head, which led her to Jan Smith Productions in Atlanta, where she recorded her first song. She had a lifelong desire to sing and was invited to perform solos at her schools, churches, birthdays, weddings, funerals and other special events. She competed in beauty pageants primarily to perform her music, and after winning numerous talent, photo and modeling divisions, was selected to sign a contract with John Robert Powers Talent Agency. Heather also loved her years as a student of the Hilton Head Dance School. In addition, she was a member of the Low Country Warriors Competitive Cheerleading Squad and competed individually and as a team member. She recently began a thriving jewelry design business with plans to resume her music pursuits when her health permitted. Heather suffered an acute illness at age 7, then at age 12 received a kidney transplant at the Medical University of South Carolina donated from her aunt, Christina Perkins. She was a daughter of Dwight and Judy Trew, who survive.

A celebration of Heather’s life is at 2:30 p.m. EDT Saturday at Central Church on Hilton Head Island at 975 William Hilton Parkway. Her family is receiving visitors from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT today at their home.

The Trew family requests honoring Heather’s memory by signing the organ donor information on driver’s licenses. Memorials may be made to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Pediatric Nephrology and Organ Transplant Research Center, Attn. Barbara Rivers, 59 Bee St., Box 250201, Charleston, SC 29425.

Other survivors include a younger sister, Taylor; two aunts, Christina Perkins of Bowling Green, Ky., and Shirley Miller of Bethesda, Md.; two uncles, J.B. Trew of Hilton Head Island and Frank Perkins of Arlington, Texas; and many cousins.