Pearl Irene Donnelly

Pearl Irene Donnelly died in Gulfport on August 29, 2026. She was 90. Born on May 22, 1936, with Irish-American roots that shaped the table more than the flag. She learned early that a day is something you finish, not something you wait for. She sold bread and patience in equal measure. A flour-dusted apron waited on a hook; regulars came for rolls and left with advice. Colleagues still mention a flour-dusted apron on a hook. She married Clarence in 1961. They kept a house that stayed modest when the neighborhood did not. They raised three children through public schools and ordinary weather. After Clarence died in 2019, she kept the routines that still made sense: the walk, the garden, the Sunday call. Neighbors remember a rake leaned against a shared fence after a storm. She liked early mornings before the heat or the noise. She died in Gulfport, among streets she never needed to explain. The radio is still tuned to the station that played while work got done.