torch had "hit his head and his hair caught fire thanks to a product that a barber put in it earlier in the day." The mayor later jested, "There are more hazards to this job than I expected." For this, the media proclaimed Perk to be the "hottest mayor in the country" and even Cleveland native Bob Hope joked about the incident. In another incident, Perk's wife, Lucille, famously rejected an invitation from First Lady Pat Nixon to an event at the White House in order to attend her regular bowling night. Later, Perk explained his wife's comment to mean that she was unable to attend because the invitation had come too late and she was unable to prepare for travel. Perk was rumored to say, "tell them it's your bowling night." Though the remark brought howls of laughter throughout the city, it endeared the Perks to their ethnic Eastern European voter base. In yet another gaffe, Perk suggested that a study on pornography ought to be conducted by municipal sanitation workers. Controversy Perk also appointed Richard Eberling in 1973 to chair a committee to redecorate the mayor's office in City Hall, a move that proved unpopular with numerous sources. In 1974, The Plain Dealer exposed Eberling's record as a petty criminal in a front-page story; Perk defended Eberling, and approved the financing of project until the amount significantly over-reached the budgeted amount. Eberling's lover, Obie Henderson was hired as Perk's personal secretary. Eberling was later found guilty in the death of Ethel M. Durkin, a Cleveland area widow; he also linked himself to the Marilyn Sheppard murder in Bay Village, in 1954. Circumstantial evidence also links Eberling to at least four other murders committed over a period from 1946 to 1970 that involved his stepfather, his purported girlfriend, and both of Mrs. Durkin's sisters. Personal life Perk and his wife had six sons and a daughter. His son, Ralph J. Perk, Jr., served as a municipal court judge in Cleveland from 1989 to 2003. Another son, Thomas Perk, is a council member in the village of Valley View in addition to being a fire fighter. Yet another son, Kenneth Perk, is a member of the Cuyahoga Heights Board of Education. His second-youngest son, Allen G. Perk, is the President and CEO of XLNsystems Inc. in Columbus, Ohio. Perk was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the 1990s, and underwent treatments