Pernetha C. Gilbert

Pernetha C. Gilbert

Pernetha C. Gilbert, died on Tuesday, October 19, 2010, at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mrs. Gilbert was 101.

Mrs. Gilbert was born on June 9, 1909, to Hamilton and Mary Chisolm on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. She moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1944. Not only was Mrs. Gilbert known in her profession, cosmetology, but also for her work in the community with her husband, Jonathan Gilbert.

Mrs. Gilbert was involved in a number of civic organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Charlottesville Beauticians. She also worked to integrate the local library and to establish housing in Charlottesville. Moreover, Mrs. Gilbert served on the Civic Advisory Panel of the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Pernetha was also actively involved in her church, Westminster Presbyterian Church, as an Elder. During the 1970's, she visited Haiti as a missionary under Presbyterian auspices.

Mrs. Gilbert was recognized by the Interfraternal Council in a "Tribute to African American Women of the Past, of the Present, and of the Future" in 1993. More recently in 2009, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Branch of the NAACP.

Mrs. Gilbert is survived by her grandson, Robert Chisholm and his wife, Nancy; sister, Mazie King; daughter-in-law, Naomi Chisholm; great grandchildren, Ebony, Jonathan, Matthew and Alisha; great-great grandchildren, Jaymon and Isaiah; and special friends, Clare and Bill Smith, Teresa Price, Anne Andrews; and her Westminster Presbyterian Church family.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jonathan Gilbert; her son, Rudy Chisholm; her sisters, Gertrude and Alma; and her brothers, Chance and Herbert.

A memorial service celebrating Mrs. Gilbert's life of more than a century will be held 2 p.m. Friday, October 29, 2010, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Road, Charlottesville.

Designated gifts and expressions of sympathy may be made to Habitat for Humanity and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

J. F. Bell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.