THE OBITUARY
Pearl Ethel Ruth McGill was in born Brooklyn, NY on September 4, 1930, to the late Tarlbert Ruth and Lillie Ruth. Her older sister, Helen Ruth, was born four years earlier. She attended and graduated from Franklin K. Lane in Queens, New York.
After graduation, she worked at NY Bell, first as an operator and then in human resources. This is where she met her future husband as she took his new employee information. They married on September 21, 1952, at Lebanon Baptist Church in Brooklyn. In their marriage, they were blessed with two children, Pamela Joy and Paula Jeanette.
When the family moved from Brooklyn to Roosevelt, Long Island, Pearl decided to stay home with the children for the first several years of their young lives. During that time, she volunteered at the town school and eventually became a teacher’s assistant at her children’s school, Centennial Avenue School. She loved working in the reading lab, where she taught students who had difficulty reading. She established relationships with her students and her co-workers, especially her supervisor, Dr. Susan Savitt, whom she followed to the Assistant Superintendent’s office. There, Pearl became her assistant. She retired, returned, and then retired again from the Roosevelt School System in 1995.
In her retirement, she settled in Varnville, SC where she lived next door to her parents, sister, and nephews. Her cousin’s family, the Jenkins, lived right across the street. She worked briefly at BB&T as a teller and then finally retired from formal work. Pearl believed in living life to its fullest. So, she was not happy just sitting around. Instead, she became a literacy volunteer in Hampton County to help improve people’s reading skills. In 2011, she earned the Hampton Literacy Volunteer of the Year award. She was also a member at Goodwill Baptist Church, where she worked on various committees and was very active in the church’s vacation bible school for its young members.
In typical fashion, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, she fought it, won, and joined her cherished group Bosom Buddies. She loved the women she met there as they supported each other and raised money for Relay for Life to fight breast cancer. In 2008 and 2018, she received the Outstanding Service Award for her work with Bosom Buddies.
In 2002, she became a part-time legal assistant for her daughter, Paula, when The McGill Law Firm was established. She assisted in making the Firm run efficiently for approximately 14 years. She would come to work with suit, notepad and business cards to help in whatever way possible.
During the last several years, she established a very close bond with the congregation and Pastor Porter at Huspah Church. If her health permitted, she made sure to attend services on Sunday.
After a surprising and brief struggle with a sudden illness, Pearl was called home to the Lord on August 29, 2023, to be with her parents, sister, and first cousin Shirley Lynch. She leaves to cherish her memories, her daughters, Pamela Joy and Paula Jeanette, her grandniece and nephews, and other relatives and dear friends.
Pearl will be missed, but she will always be loved.
