FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
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    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
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    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
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The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
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    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
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    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Annie Pearl Gordon Dies; Was a Teacher at MEHS

Annie Pearl Gordon

Ms. Annie Pearl Gordon, formerly of Sitka and Reidsville, North Carolina, transitioned from her earthly home on May 13, 2021, at the Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, Tennessee.

She peacefully passed with her niece “Shettapie” by her side, after 95 years of a wonderful life. 

A celebration of her life was held May 22 at the McLaurin Memorial Chapel, in Reidsville.

Annie Pearl Gordon was born on November 8, 1925, in Gastonia, North Carolina, the daughter of Bench and Sadie Gordon.

After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Reidsville, Annie Pearl began her college education at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, then transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in dance.

Embracing the thought of a wonderful life, she earned a master’s degree in education from North Carolina A. & T. State University in Greensboro.

Believing that life was full of wonder and possibilities, Annie Pearl continued her studies for several years, taking post graduate courses in a variety of fields – science, history, and physical education.

Defying the stereotypical life that the 1950s had defined for her, Annie Pearl moved to California and worked as a live-in maid while she studied fencing in Hollywood.   

Annie Pearl’s love for life was heard in her tap dance; it was seen in her jazz dance; it was marveled in her ballet; and it was amazingly shown in her acrobatics.

She became a teacher for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka in the late 1960s. For 27 years, she taught biology, physical education, gymnastics and dance, and coached track and field teams.

 

After work, Annie Pearl, energetic and generous, taught dance and gymnastics to many children, at no charge. She organized and directed dozens of costumed children in a recital at the Centennial Building. Enjoyment was the goal, and when a 7-year-old girl misplaced her costume and was in tears, Annie Pearl made it all right by assuring the child it was special to get to dance in her skirt and blouse.

 In other community service, Annie Pearl mentored young women who pursued the title of “Miss Sitka” at the Miss Sitka Pageant.

To Annie Pearl, the dance was her sincere expression of her gratitude and praise to the marvelous God who had given her an unfettered life with a bounty of possibilities –  she lived it, she enjoyed it, she celebrated it and she shared it.

After she retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Annie Pearl went  back home to Reidsville where she “bowled with the best and danced with the rest.”

Annie Pearl shared the joy of life’s dance with the members of the Reidsville Senior Center and the St. Paul United Methodist Church. She made several trips to the Senior Games in Raleigh, where she was awarded several gold medals performing her signature dance to Elvis Presley’s rendition of “Precious Lord Take My Hand.”

Annie was the epitome of living life fully and her life became a beaconing light for many younger people. 

Annie lives on in eternity dancing with her two sisters, Bernice Gordon Scales and Frances Gordon Roberts, who preceded her in death.

“Thank you,  Annie Pearl, for showing us how to live and dance,” her family said. “Now, your dance will help us live through this pain of missing you.  We all will live and we will dance.”

Annie Pearl is survived by her devoted niece Reshetta Roberts of Spring Hill, Tennessee; her loving sister, Doris Gordon Brown, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; her loving nephew, Maurice Brown of Ft. Lauderdale; and extended family and devoted friends, Lillian Carr, Cindy Baynes, Kathy MacDonald, Deborah and Billy Bowie, and Deborah Pettit.

Other relatives and a plethora of dear friends also survive.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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