Ms. Pearlie Mae Louie

Pearlie Mae Burgess Louie was born in Kingstree, South Carolina on December 29, 1919. She was an only child of Mabel and Joe Burgess. In 1937 Pearlie graduated from Thomlinson High School and in the fall started college at “Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina” which was renamed South Carolina State College in 1954. Unfortunately she had to leave college after two years due to lack of funds. Pearlie then took a Civil Service exam and achieved superior scores and was to be awarded employment. However, when Pearlie arrived in Charleston, South Carolina for the promised position, she walked into a room with other applicants and noticed that she was the only person of color. She was then taken to the side and told that there must have been some mistake and that the job was for another “Pearlie Burgess.” Pearlie was then turned away and had to take the bus back home to Kingstree. She then migrated to Harlem in New York City. Several years later she moved back to Kingstree and met a soldier named M.C. Louie. They married in 1946 and migrated to Detroit, Michigan. Pearlie has three children: Joe Burgess, Brenda Kaye Louie Perryman and Keith Bernard Louie. In 1957 she and her family joined St. Theresa Church in Detroit. She was a faithful member. The family moved several times and she joined St. Gregory and St. Mary’s of Redford parishes. Pearlie studied and became a nurse in the fall of 1956. She was hired at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit where she was a nurse in the children’s unit. In those days nurses weren’t paid according to the amount of work demand, and Pearlie, who was raising two children by herself during those times, would sacrifice lunch at work so that Brenda and Bernard could have lunch at school. During her many years at Henry Ford Hospital, Pearlie was heralded for her excellence in her field. When the hospital opened their neonatal unit, Pearlie was the nurse who opened it. Pearlie retired from Ford Hospital in 1983 after 26 ½ years. During those years she also enrolled in real estate school and acquired her realtor license and was successful in that field. After her retirement from nursing, she continued to sell real estate. After she retired from being a realtor, she was in demand as a caregiver because of her stellar nursing career. She then became a caregiver for a very special young man named Michael Barg and helped to raise him from the age of 2 months old until he was in high school. He still considers her his surrogate grandmother. She then worked at a Hallmark store and at a Detroit Public School. Throughout her lifetime, Pearlie has always been one to help those in need. She also used her nursing skills to advise and help others. Though Pearlie loved working, she also enjoyed traveling to Toronto and back to New York. Pearlie also created a tradition of cooking a big dinner for the family every New Year’s Day. For many years Pearlie was also a faithful parishioner of St. Mary’s of Redford Church. Besides her three children Joe(Liz), Brenda, and Keith (Joyce), Pearlie has six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Her daughter Brenda Perryman preceded her in death on Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020. Pearlie Louie departed this life just one week later on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 9:16 pm at Henry Ford Hospital. May she rest in peace.

Ms. Pearlie Mae Louie

December 29, 1919 - April 12, 2020