BUFFALO, N.Y. — Pearl Young wasn’t born in Buffalo. But you’d never know it.
“She's been faithful, loyal, and such a friendly person, always trying to help someone. That was her nature to help,” said her Brother-in-law Bishop Glenwood Young.
Young, who many called “Pearly”, arrived by marriage to the City of Good Neighbors more than four decades ago. She spent every day in this city lighting up the streets with just her smile.
“All my memories are the same. Like, even as an adult and as a kid, she's just, you know, every time you see her, she was just happy. She was happy to see you,” said her nephew James Pennington.
His earliest memories of his aunt are the same as most young people in the community – seeing her before Sunday school at Good Samaritan COGIC.
“Sunday school started at 8:00...I would get there at like 6:45. Sunday morning because we always had a honeybun for me.”
Pearl was known for always having a plate for someone.
“That's that person she was. She's always baking cookies, baking cakes, doing stuff like that, cooking spaghetti, whatever she could do for people. She did that,” said Bishop Young.
Every Saturday she ran a food pantry in Central Park to feed the hungry. She did this for 25 years straight.
Pearl Young was a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a missionary, and a mother to the church.
She loved people. She loved to sing. She loved to dance. She loved to hug.
Her family members are still trying to find the words to describe what their lives will look like without her light shining over them.
“It's just tragic because, you know, in a world where we see a lot of darkness, to have somebody be taken from us… it sucks. It really sucks.”
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