Community
Geraldine Gillette Earp, 100
Centenarian Geraldine Gillette Earp died peacefully in her Coventry Park seniors assisted living residence Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, shortly after learning of the Biden-Harris win.
Born in Des Arc, Ark., on Feb. 16, 1920, she was a California resident for the past 80 years.
The eighth child and fifth girl in a family of 12 children, Earp is survived by her youngest sibling, Maxwell Gillette of San Francisco.
Earp grew up in Arkansas and came to California in1937 following her first husband, George Purdom. Other family members — Papa Charlie, Mama Emma, sisters Edythe and Gladys, and brothers Roscoe, Harold, and Maxwell — gradually followed.
A former secretary at Third Baptist Church, the church home of her second husband, Garland Earp, Geri was an aspiring minister whose real ministry was in the community.
Always concerned about helping others, Geri was actively involved with The Order of the Eastern Star, the OMI community, Jones Methodist Church, Bethany Center Senior Housing, and the Institute on Aging, along with other informal and formal groups.
She founded the Senior Action Network in San Francisco, advocating for special services for the elderly such as curbside kneeling busses.
She received her Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of California Berkeley in 1973.
In January 2007 she was presented with the Chronicle’s Jefferson Award in recognition of her many societal contributions.
Because of the coronavirus, there will be no public viewing.
