LIVERMORE – Twenty-nine people, young and old, turned out in the rain Saturday to take care of fall chores for the Lew Perkins family.

Perkins, 69, a well-known upholsterer, was diagnosed with acute leukemia, an aggressive form with a known cause of exposure to chemicals on Sept. 15, his wife, Bonnie Perkins of Livermore, said Monday.

Her husband has been around chemicals since he was young, first in the apple orchards and in the latter years as an upholster.

The couple formerly ran Perkins’ Upholstery and Decorating Services in Lewiston and Auburn and most recently Center Shop, an upholstery business in Livermore.

Lew Perkins is in the process of notifying his customers that the shop is closing since he can no longer be exposed to chemicals, his wife said.

Her husband underwent carpal tunnel surgery in July and was recovering from it but was tired all the time, she said.

Initially, the couple thought it was a heart problem, but it turned out to be leukemia, she said.

“This kind of leukemia – they have no way of judging how long you will live,” she said.

The first prognosis wasn’t good, she said, and they’re just living from blood test to blood test right now. There is no pain with this type leukemia, she said, but he has to be careful of infection and pneumonia. He’s highly prone to both.

On Saturday, when people started showing up in the rain to get most of the winter wood ready and stored for Bonnie Perkins’ mother, Millicent Thyng, 89, and harvest the couple’s garden and wash their windows, they were amazed and overwhelmed, Perkins said.

“It’s a little hard for Lew and I,” Perkins said. “We’re private people who do everything for ourselves. We were just overwhelmed by the support. We did nothing. We just sat here.”

Friends were still coming Monday to help do chores for the family, she said.

“They just come in and do it for us,” Perkins said.

Renda Libby, the Livermore town clerk who organized the chore day, said the turnout was “awesome.”

“We managed to get almost everything done for the winter for this family,” Libby said Monday. “I am so proud of the turnout.”

Bonnie Perkins, who is an assistant to the Jay, Livermore, Livermore Falls Chamber of Commerce, also helps out at the Livermore Town Office when needed.

The group worked nonstop in the hard rain to get the work done, Libby said.

Most of the people who turned out were from Livermore. A couple from Vassalboro, who are friends of the family, also helped.

“It was such a community thing, it makes us all feel so good,” Libby said. “Nobody quit; they wanted to keep going.”

For now, Bonnie Perkins said, she is getting through her husband’s illness with a lot of prayer and a lot of support from friends.

“If I didn’t have a faith, I just don’t think I could face each day,” she said.