Pearl Evadnie Clunes

Pearl Clunes was born on August 23rd, 1924 in Port of Spain, Trinidad to Daisy and Claude Clunis. Mr. Clunis, a Trinidadian stalwart, had served in Sierra Leone as a banker. The oldest of four children, she attended high school in Trinidad. Upon graduation at the age of 17, this gutsy teenager decided to leave the island for greener pastures. You can imagine traveling by sea across the ocean on a journey to an unknown land to create a new future for herself. Pearl Clunes, fondly referred to by all as “Mammie”, was adventurous in her day. She sailed from one ocean to another. From the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Over the years, her travels took her from Trinidad to Canada, New York and Nigeria. She initially trained as a nurse in Canada and later arrived New York as Staff Nurse. As a young nurse, she met her husband, Bennett Onyerisara Ukeje who was an Ed.D. student at Columbia University, New York. They met at an international dance festival and the rest is history. Mammie (as we call her) then got married to Bennett Ukeje in 1954. They returned to Nigeria with their two infant children (Ngozi and Ijeoma) on the eve of Independence. At that time, there was great zeal among educated Nigerian students abroad who were committed and excited to be involved in the development of the soon to be independent nation. Arriving Nigeria in 1957, the young Nigerian doctoral graduate with his foreign wife, a Registered Nurse settled in one of the premier cities, Onitsha in the eastern region of Nigeria. Pearl Clunes was one of the early registered nurses to work at Parklane Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria. At Parklane, she helped provide the desperately needed medical services in the young country. Pearl Clunes decided to combine her nursing career with entrepreneurship. She saw the vision and need for a major supermarket when she accompanied her husband to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She established the very first supermarket called Varsity Superette. This supermarket was so successful that she decided to open a donut and tea shop (with lots of delicious sandwiches). She also had a bridal shop embedded in it called “La Petit Parisien”. The distance between these two shops was close to 60 miles but alone she would travel back and forth from one store to the other in her black Volkswagen Beetle. Not only was she a passionate business woman, she was an avid gardener. She had the best rose garden within the university campus that attracted bystanders and numerous visitors. Pearl Clunes returned to active nursing at the onset of the Nigerian civil war, tending to the wounded on the battlefield frontlines. In the heat of the war, she was evacuated to the United States, where she continued to support the needy affected by war with the provision of food, medical supplies and clothes. She also returned to her profession as a private duty nurse in New York. Almost as though she was making up for the years she spent in Nigeria raising her children, Pearl was known to work 16 hour daily shifts (80 hour weeks) for several years. Not wanting to rest on her laurels, her quest for further knowledge made her continue her education after the age of 50. She decided to go beyond her RN status and earned a B.S. degree in Nursing, followed by an M.S. Nursing degree. At that time it was not common to have a Doctorate in Nursing (DNS) degree otherwise she would have pursued it! After age 70 Mammie was not yet done. She went to Florida and opened another business venture, “FACT Clinic” which was a medical testing clinic. A few years later, she returned to New York where she retired. Following retirement, she lived in multiple other cities including Michigan, Virginia, Texas before finally settling in Atlanta, Georgia. A truly fantastic speedy journey through life. A fulfilled journey of hard work, traveling adventures, international collaborations and community medical service. A lover of Calypso music (Mighty Sparrow and Kitchener) and Nigerian Highlife. Pearl Clunes was multi-talented, hard-working, fun-loving, adventurous and a severe disciplinarian. Now her journey on this side of the Jordan is over and she has crossed to the other side to be with the angels and archangels in the sky. May she rest in perfect peace in the bosom of our lord. Amen. Ms. Pearl E. Clunes is survived by her children, Dr. Ngozi Ukeje, Ijeoma Eualalie Bristol, Dr. & Mrs. Ikechukwu Ukeje, and Ms. Uche Ukeje & husband, Mr Moore Nwokey along with a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, and godchildren. Ike Ukeje is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Service of Songs - Ms. Pearl E. Clunes Time: Nov 22, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Meeting ID: 889 3789 9527 Passcode: 493621 One tap mobile +13017158592,,88937899527#,,,,,,0#,,493621# US (Washington D.C) +13126266799,,88937899527#,,,,,,0#,,493621# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 889 3789 9527 Passcode: 493621 Find your local number: Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing The link to the livestream of Ms. Clunes's service may be found here: click here.