Perani was born in Italy in 1942 and moved to Canada with his family in 1953, settling near Toronto.[4] He attended St. Lawrence University where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.[5] He played for a number of leagues in Michigan and Ontario. He and his wife Kris moved to Flint in the late 1960s and never left. Kris died from cancer in 2006.The following year, as part of the 'Perani Group', he bought the Flint Generals. He retired as a player after the 1974 season and went into the pizza business and in 1976 started "Bob Perani's Sports Shop".[6]
Perani retired to Thailand and died on a flight from Detroit to Tokyo en route to Thailand.[7]
^Ham, Thomas E. (Spring 1964). "Orchids To"(PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 51, no. 1. p. 19. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-12-21.