A Former Publication Of Alderson High School
“Alderson’s Longest Running News Media”
Pearl Gray Canterbury - Obituary
Feburary 2, 1927 - May 9, 2007
TUPELO
-
Pearl
Gray
Canterbury
Furr
died
Wednesday,
May
9,
2007,
at
The
Sanctuary
Hospice
House
in
Tupelo.
Mrs.
Furr
was
born
Feb.
2,
1927,
in
Alderson,
West
Virginia,
to
Dewey
Price
Canterbury
and
Edith
Pearl
Rader.
Pearl graduated from Alderson High School, Class of 1945.
She
married
Marion
Hansell
(John)
Furr
in
Lovely
Lane
Methodist
Church
in
Baltimore,
Maryland,
on
April
13,
1946.
Prior
to
her
recent
illness,
she
lived
in
a cottage at Traceway Methodist Retirement Community in Tupelo.
Pearl
moved
many
times
with
her
husband
and
children
while
John
pursued
a
23-year
military
career.
They
eventually
ended
up
living
in
Oxford
from
1970
to
1976
where
she
worked
at
Ole
Miss,
first
as
the
AFROTC
secretary
and
later
in
the
Bursar's
office.
She
and
John
moved
to
Tupelo,
where
Pearl
worked
until
retirement
in
1989
at
the
Ole
Miss
Extension
Nursing
Program
office.
In
1991
they
moved
to
Montgomery,
Alabama,
when
their
last
two
grandchildren were born. In 2004, they moved to Traceway Manor in Tupelo.
During
those
military
years,
Pearl
didn't
just
set
up
a
house
for
the
family
every
time
the
military
moved
them,
she
made
a
loving
home.
Often
faced
with
going
it
alone
while
her
husband
was
gone
on
military
deployments,
Pearl
nurtured
their
children,
managed
the
home,
and
passed
on
her
Christian
values
to
her
children.
Her
life
was
Proverbs
31:10-31.
No
matter
how
scattered
around
the
world
Pearl's
family
was,
home
was
always
where
mother
was.
She
took
great
joy
in
her
children
and
in
being
a
West
Virginia
girl.
She
never
passed
up
an
opportunity
to
brag
on
both.
"Her
children
rise
up,
and
call
her
blessed;
her
husband
also,
and
he
praises
her."
Proverbs
31:28.
Pearl
had
the
gift
of
opening
up
her
heart
and
her
home to anyone in need.
Forever
enriched
are
those
whose
lives
she
touched
with
her
love,
understanding
and
acceptance.
Her
sense
of
humor
and
fun
lifted
the
spirits
of
all
who
knew
her.
She
truly
never
met
a
stranger.
"Give
her
the
fruit
of
her
hands;
and
let
her
own
works
praise
her
in
the
gates."
Proverbs
31:31.
Pearl
was
preceded
in
death
by
her
husband;
her
parents;
and
three
sisters,
Victoria,
Gladys,
and
Phyllis;
and
her
brother,
Paul.
She
is
survived
by
her
four
children,
Mary
Louise
Furr
and
her
husband,
Felix
Charles
DiPalma
Jr.,
of
Texas,
William
Frazier
Furr
and
wife,
Martha,
of
Montgomery,
Alabama,
Joseph
Patrick
Furr
and
his
wife,
Dorothy,
of
Great
Falls,
Montana,
and
Elizabeth
Anne
(Libby)
Furr
of
Oxford.
She
is
also
survived
by
seven
grandchildren,
two
great-grandchildren,
and
nine
nieces
and
nephews.
At
the
family's
request
a
private
memorial
service
was
held.
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Furr's
cremains
will
be
kept
by
their
youngest
daughter,
Elizabeth.
Daily Journal, Tupelo, Mississippi, May 11, 2007
