Pearl Humber Seely


PEARL HUMBER SEELY

Age 95, of Santa Fe passed away on Wednesday morning January 24, 2001 at St. Vincent's Hospital following a fall. Not one to sit around, Pearl incurred the injury while on her way to play her much loved duplicate bridge. Pearl is survived by daughters, Jane Thomson and Helen Slaughter; son, Edward Seely: grandchildren: Barbara and Hilary Thomson, Matthew and Todd Slaughter; daughter-in-law, Isabel Rovira-Gibert.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Oral Edward Seely who passed away in 1992.

Pearl was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Santa Fe where she was an inspiration to its members. She taught Sunday school in several locations throughout her life and read her bible from cover to cover beginning each January.

Born in 1905 in what was then Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Pearl grew up the youngest of eleven children on a west Texas farm. In spite of a remote, rough homestead life near the small town of Albany, Texas, she was instilled with a love of learning from her parents. Her family considered music part of a cultured family's experience. Pearl took weekly piano lessons as a youngster and continued to play until her last days. Teaching played a preeminent part in Pearl's life. At 17 she attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas and later transferred to Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She was a bit of a daredevil and competed in sports. She played center on the women's basketball team at Hardin-Simmons and was an active swimmer and tennis player in her younger days. Graduating in 1928, Pearl began a 65 year teaching career with a post in Moran, TX. She focused on teaching English, journalism and speech in Texas (Van and Kilgore) and Oklahoma (Madill, Chickasha and Moore). Pearl was known for her beautiful penmanship and she taught many a student to form letters in the classic manner. She enjoyed directing high school plays, serving as a yearbook advisor and putting together school newspapers. She touched the lives of hundreds of students over the years and was able to remember and stay in touch with many of them. Concurrent with teaching, Pearl obtained two masters' degrees in English and education. After retirement from teaching high school, Pearl continued her career at Oscar Rose junior college near Oklahoma City where she taught English and tutored English as a second language. After her husband's death and her subsequent move to Bartlesville in 1992, she continued to tutor students at Rogers State College until a back injury finally stopped her long career in 1993. She had the well-known Humber love for needle arts and completed dozens of afghans in her lifetime for friends and family. Only two days before she died, she handed out a coverlet she had recently created to a friend. A visitation for family and friends will be held on Sunday evening, January 28, 2001 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at Berardinelli Family Chapel. A memorial service will be held on Monday, January 29, 2001 at the First Baptist Church of Santa Fe at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Santa Fe. Arrangements are under the direction of Berardinelli Family Funeral Service, 1399 Luisa, 984-8600.

Published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, (NM) - January 28, 2001