A Life Well Lived is a Life to Celebrate, Dr. Pearlie C. Dove, September 5, 2015, 11:00 AM, Memorial Service at Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 220 Auburn Avenue Atlanta, Georgia, Rev. John Foster, P.h.D., Senior Pastor, Big Bethel AME Church - Officiating

~~~~L~it-filled Wild of God, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, friend, mentor, teacher, administrator, historian and community activist, who lived a rich, but humbly fulfilling life. She was the only child born to the marriage of Dan Cecil Craft, a WWI veteran, and Lizzie Dyer Craft, an accountant at the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, in 1921. She was adored by her family who dubbed her "the Christ Child" because she was compliant and accommodating, upheld the family's sterling values and made them proud. She was preceded in death by: her parents; a sister, Kathryn Dixon; three aunts, Florine Dyer Furlow, Minnie Dyer and Mattie Dyer Jones; and cousins, Marguerite Jones Butler, Juanita Jones, Gwendolyn Jones Atkinson, Kitty Jones, Barbara Jones Mitchell Moss along with other members of the Jones family. Her uncle by marriage (to aunt Florine) was the late Professor H. J. Furlow, the renowned "Satan" in Big Bethel's famous morality play, Heaven Bound.
Pearlie attended Ashby Street lemen ary transitioned effortlessly to Booker T. Washington High Sch where she graduated with high honors. Among her fondest memories of her early education were the "Honors" trips she took to both the Midwest and eastcoast with her high school principal, Mr. C. L. Harper. She matriculated at Clark College at the age of sixteen and received a degree, cum laude, in Home Economics. Soon after, she headed to Atlanta University and was awarded the Master's degree in Education. She was destined to return, years later, to her "beloved" alma mater, Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), to teach and lead the Education Department collectively for thirty~six years. Under her leadership, the Education Department was second to none in the nation in its accomplishments, gaining national accreditation and producing students who passed national qualifying exams on first take. After traveling for five summers to the University of Colorado's Boulder Campus, she received her Doctor of Education degree in 1959. One of the persons most instrumental in her obtaining the doctorate degree was the love of her life, the Reverend Chaplain Jackson Benjamin Dove, an African Methodist Episcopal minister from Jacksonville, Florida, who entered her life in 1945 . Recognizing her talent, her independent nature and strong convictions, "Bennie," as she affectionately called him, insisted she would best be anchored in academia if she obtained the doctorate degree. He did not live to see the dream become a reality for an untimely death ended his life in 1952.
Two girls were born to this union: Jacquelyn Yvonne, who became an angel at a tender age and Carol Ann who was Pearlie's secretary, companion and confidant in her later years. The young Mrs. Dove never remarried, but chose to raise her daughter alone and commit herself totally to the furtherance of her chosen vocation-training black teachers for the epochal social changes taking place in the field of Education in the twentieth--century deep South.

After retiring from C lark in 1986, Atlanta U niversity. It wa at this blossomed. In 1992, she was Washington High C luster. Amo historic sights on Atlanta's "Westsi ".In 2012, her re,ea sixty~three years-the Washington Park neigh orhood-a a
Throughout her life she held memberships in numerous organizations and received many awards and citations. Escorted by her grandfather, Caleb Dyer, she joined Big Bethel AME.Church at the age of two years, and, after nine decades of dedicated service, he represented the oldest family still in the church. In 1938, she was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Sigma
hapter, at Clark College. Continuing with the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of the sorority, she served as its President in the 60s, and later received it "Torch Award". The National Association of Teacher Educators named her its "Distinguished Member". She al o was a life member of the NAACP, whose Atlanta Chapter honored her with the Jondelle Johnson Legacy Award. Clark Atlanta University established the Pearlie Craft Dove Colloquium in her honor and Atlanta City Council honored her by declaring June 17, 2013, as "Pearlie Craft Dove Day in Atlanta". Although she received numerous other honors, her crowning achievement was her publication of a book of her speeche : Pearls of Wisdom from a Woman of Color, Courage and Commitment: Pearlie Craft Dove, Xlibris Press, 2015.
In her twilight years, this God~ratefullady created her own daily bible study, prayer and meditation routine, attended community meetings, and mentored and helped her friends and neighbors with her time, talent and support. These epitaphs from the halls of institutions where she studied inspired her throughout life:

"Culture for Service"

Clark College Motto

'TH Find a Way or Make One."

Atlanta University Motto

"He who knows only his own generation remains a child." University of Colorado, Boulder

She will be sorely missed by her daughter, Carol Ann Dove; two grandsons, Ronald Benjamin Horn (Salwa) and Charles Bradley Horn (Tiffany); two great grandchildren, Seth Benjamin Horn and Brook Rose Franklin; nieces and nephews Ingrid Dove, Lisa Dove and Beverly Dove Ross; a beloved cousin Nanella Jones Warren, Hermina Jones Brown (Michael), Lorraine B. Nelson, Jennie Jones, Jerome Jones, Jarvis Jones (Wendy), Ernest Tate (Patricia), Lafayette Tate, Renee Houseworth (Frank) and Vivian Lester; and many other members of the Dove, Jones and Tate families as well as other close friends.

MUSICAL PRELUDE

PHILLIP SKERETT, JR., Senior Organist

Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

PROCESSIONAL

"For All the Saints"

HYMN

"Blessed Assurance"

PRAYER

CHARLES BRADLEY HORN, Grandson

MUSICAL SELECTION

"Euery Praise"

BIG BETHEL AME MASS CHOIR

HOLY SCRIPTURES

OLD TESTAMENT READING

Psalms 1

VICTOR SAINT CLAIR WRIGHT, Family Friend

NEW TESTAMENT READING

II Peter 1:1-8

REV. WILLIE LANGLEY, Pastor

Big Bethel AME Church

MUSICAL SELECTION

:11-svc the bmd'~

CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY

PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

Curtis Euerett Powell, D.A., Director

REFLECTIONS

CLARKATLANTA UNIVERSITY

RONALD A. JOHNSON, PH.D. , President

Clark Atlanta Uniuersity

NORAN MOFFETT, ED.D., Associate Dean

CITY GOVERNMENT

School of Education Fayetteuille State Uniuersity
COUNCILMEMBER~''Rf~~t~UNCJ, JIC

lo'rl:JSICA:b SE lJiCTIO~l

"CeJitt Sunday " Duke Elltttgtult

Atlanta City Council District D }A) 4 F\,.PAIT .11 SOP>l, PLamt

Py;~19r Ci\U bfusic Depar tlll.ilR

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

MARY NORWOOD, Councilmember at Large, City of Atlanta

COLLEAGUE

ISABELLA JENKINS, PH.D., Professor CAU School of Education

WASHINGTON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

CHRISTY JACKSON, Executiue Director

'The Conseruancy at Historic Washington Park

MUSICAL SELECTION

'i\ue Maria"

MITZI OKOU, Cellist, Niece

COLLEAGUE

'WILEY BOLDEN, ED.D., Retired Professor, Georgia State Uniuersity

CHURCH & FAMILY

GREGORY D. COLEMAN, ESQ__

JOHNSON, HOPEWELL, Coleman, LLC

FAMILY

RONALD BENJAMIN HORN, Grandson

MUSICAL SELECTION

"My Tribute"

CAROL ANN DOVE, Daughter

7 * EULOGY Na::f.'l: 2f:.2.f' ~~~jl'I.H.I/..:il,o.-i"J 1he~/1~~ RE:V. GREGORY EASON, Senior Pastor Jior'b ..,4..,~i_y {Afll/uJa.lf) Saint Paul AME Church

SPECIAL TRIBUTE
~ O,.-k~ '-~', ~L L.l.~..

Medley of Spirituals

\f\1,~

C LARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

CLOSING SELECTION

Clark College Alma Mater

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DONALD JOHNSON, Family Friend

RECESSIONAL

"When the Saints Go Marching In" (Heauen Bound)

POSTLUDE

PHILLIP SKERETT, JR., Senior Organist

Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

This life
continued.from D1
had everything we needed. . Stores. Schools. Banks. Athe-;
ater and a hospital." It was one of the best-kept
secrets in Atlanta, the first planned.black suburb, a place anyone would feel p~oud to call home.
"I thought it would last forever," Dove said.
Dove grew up on the corner of Simpson Road and Temple Street, across from Fire Station 16. Mter graduating in 1937 fro~ Booker T. Washington High School, she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary.education and home economics fro m Clark College and Atlanta University.
She.left the neighborhood only for a short time to get her doctorate and to support her husband, Chaplin Jackson Benjamin Dove, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Because Mrican-Americans couldn't enroll at Georgia's flagship universities, Dove spent suminers at the University of Colorado, where she earned her degree in teacher education, becoming the first black woman and the third Mrican-American to receive a doctorate from UC's School of Education.
In 1951, the couple returned

Pearlle Dove, 93, has lived and worked nearly her entire life In Washington Park, a northwest Atlanta community. CONTRIBUTED

to the old neighborhood, not far

from Dove;s childhood home.

By the 1970s, Washington

Park was starting.to change.

The city of Atlanta decided to .

put in the MARTA rail line, I-20

was extended to the west and

race no longer held black resi-

dents captive. They. could move.

beyond the Peyton Road Wall,

and they did.

Dove, though, remained.'

"We decided to stay and fight

to preservewashington Park

rather than switch," she said.

"I knew that this neighborhood

would be los.t just like Auburn

Ave nu e ."



Plus, Dove understood, perhaps betterthan anyone, th~t

you don't desert the one who cate for Washington Park for .

brung you. There wouldn't have the past seven years. She -con-

been a Washington Park with- siders the retired teacher and

out Heman Perry, and Pearl-

great-grandmother a role mod-

ABOUTTHE COLUMNIST
Gracie Bonds Staples Is an
award- wlnnlngjournalfst

ie Dove would not have existed el for anyone who wants to give~ who has been writing for '

without Washington Park.

back some of what's been given dally newspapers since 1979,

"It meant everything to I}le
that a black man in 1919 would have this vision for a livable city," she said.

to them. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with. They saved Heman Perry's home from de-

wheri she graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. She joined The A t lan t a J o u r n a l - C o n s t i t u t i o n

Dove credits her grandfather, molition. They got funding to Caleb Dyer, for her chutzpah. update the Washington Park
He constantly reminded her . Livable Centers Initiative and

In 2000 after stints at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,the Sacramento Bee,the Raleigh

that she was as good as anyone. "With God as our guide
and family support, the world
a would make b~aten path to
your door," she said, quoting him. "We did not compete with others; we competed with ourselves."

are wor:King through the Con- . servancy at Historic Washington Park to get local historic
designation for the community. Two years ago, Dove's heart
started to give out and, in the past month or so, has been working at only 40 percent.

Times and two Mississippi dallies.Staples was recently promoted to Senior Features Enterprise Writer. look for her columns Thursdays and Saturdays in Living and alternating Sundays In Metro.

That doesn't surprise me.

Th~re's nothing more doctors.

Contrary to popular belief, Afri- can do for her.

can-A.mericans have a long history of striving for excellence and succeeding against the odds.
It's people like Dove who do the heavy lifting often in se-

''l'tn tired now," she said. There's no question Pearlie Dove has done hercommunity proud, training the next generation of teachers. Even after she retired in 1986, she con-

Pearlie Dove has experienced a lot of good in her time, .and she has spent her life doing what she could to pass it on to others. She and her daughter, Carol Ann Dove, and a

cret and without the recognition, the applause or headlines trumpeting their good deeds. She knows that there is a need for both leaders and followers, decision makers and implementers. She hasn't forgotten as some do that she is a servant leader and the best ones groom others to take their place. .
Christi]ackson has been working with Dove to advo-

tinued to give, working with
The Atlanta Project to help preserve Washington Park and other. neighborhoods.
She never forgot where she came from. Indeed she was
proud of her roots. She still is. "I'm ~3, " she said. "I was a
good person and true to my heritage. As my grandfather said, we owe to the community the
goodness that happened to us." .

former student, N<;>ran Moffett, have turned a collection of her speeches into a book - "Pearls ofWisdom From a Woman of Color, Courage and Commitment" - available on Amazon.com. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Dr. Pearlie Dove Community Council Scholarship Award.
"That's my legacy," she said.

.,
CD
Q.
~.,

'\:l
o:. o u ....0~......t -~r..J+.:-JJ. r~J'J
~ '\:j 'f 0

"cD
m0
oCD~ ::J 1! -~
CJt=

.O~J 0;j M~

~
0
~-

:. ~~
OJ

OJ ' ~ - ~~

=s . 5 s a a .5 .E . o. s E.. s .~
r:/l

.Q~~.) C.~.~::~:~Q~>) ~;_S-g

~



e~ ; ~~

~I ~

...... >t:~

s;::,

6ci:S

~~r:-~/gl
o Q)

~

..bc~::Q~
...

Q)
=~ ~

1 . I!. ,..!..
i~.j~B~g-8~~
.... Q) Vj

.8

~
..c::

~c

.~.~Q~::): '..bQ..b)i)-3~sa:....]co '~ts~I:l:

~~0~
Q)

t)

r:/) ,.!..

aJ

'.~sbo~8s:a:

J~-o~tt:

~<

-g
o

-o ..

~.
-

-~5-a~o
o.

:s .~o ~~I ~.,!. ,~~..~~!.~.~I~~~'~I~;.!a"'
- o .. ..... o r:/l (/)

~Q)
o~..

:~:~

.9

~~FtRiii~~~ ~~~~~~~~-~~~ }:~=i ! ~1~~~1112~ ~ill~i~~ m1 ..g ~ ~ bQ ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~. v .. a:; ~ ~ -..c:: ~ a~ r:/l ci:S ~ Q) :: ~

~ ~ ~;' ~:~ ~.s ~i :s.g ~ ~ g ~ ~~ s~g]~~~.s~ ~ - s. 0 -gof ~Q~) SQQ)) ~"~~0:~b2oZ~QQ)~~' S"Q0c) ~0:Su~

~C':S o-5~- ~:-5;+-> ~Q)
::s ..... 1-t ,.0

c~i:-S5s u

1~=0 "'

Mm~~r<~JlJl ~1r:~-/lt .-...0.~, .:~:3...~.c... :-0 do~-r:/l

~ ~ ~~ ~sE~ ~ . b'~ B.S~~~ g.:c .~ ~ ~ ~ ~e ~ a Q) rJl u ~ ..c: ~

b2;!Oc~i:S
Q) 1-t

0cui:S ~~~ :~~= .~C:: ~~0"~'0i~


r~nrS:Z/l<~lJ
'"'"' ci:S ~

c>iI:S.'~Qi:: )+0-.'~.0~i 0a;:J ~>

~u ~~
s ..~....~o
~

!i!!~a;l&!f~~~~a!.~~~~~~~~~~~~=a~~!1~~1till~~~~~~;i~f~ < :: -5 .S ci:S 01 ~ o ~ <:0 -5 ~ o < ~ 8 - 8 ~ .~ C':S z:~. ~ B!;:! ..o ~ :U = ..c:: .~ o. ::t ~ r3 8.e. ~ ~ ~ ~

~
c
0 'U
Q)
::cp:J c
0
()
.,~
...I
~