Pearl Hamblin

Pearl Jessie Hamblin
March 5, 1928 - January 20, 2019

Pearl Hamblin went to Heaven to live with Jesus on Sunday, January, 20, 2019, at the age of 90 years and 11 months. She is now reunited with her husband, family and friends who passed before her.

Pearl Jessie Hamblin was born on March 5, 1928, in Tompkins County, Groton, New York, to George and Lucille (Strong) Joli. She was the sixth child in a family which eventually grew to 11 in total. At age five, Pearl moved with her family to Portland, Oregon to join the Apostolic Faith Church; shortly thereafter, the family moved to Gresham, Oregon where Pearl attended Hillview School. Pearl often reminisced about her childhood in Gresham during the Great Depression, when she ran barefoot through the pasture, woodland and stream on a farm with her siblings. Although her family was poor in worldly possessions, she would often say they were rich in love and values. While in Gresham, she also picked strawberries to earn extra money for the family.

In her adolescent years, during World War II, Pearl lived with and aided her older sisters, Thelma, Carolyn, and Ida, with the care of their children while they worked to support their families in Klamath Falls, Astoria, and Gresham.

Eventually the Joli family moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where Pearl met her mate for life, GL Hamblin, in 1947. They were later married in Grants Pass, where her parents had moved. They set up housekeeping in Klamath Falls, where both sons, Larry and Bob, were born.

With a new job in 1953, Pearl and GL moved their family to Grants Pass, Oregon, where they would happily spend the rest of their lives. Pearl helped GL work on expanding a one-room cabin into a three-bedroom, two-bath home. She canned and baked and fed the family very well. She traveled and camped with GL and the boys during many fishing and hunting trips over the years.

In 1964, Pearl found salvation at the Apostolic Faith Church in Grants Pass. The event forever changed her life, and her ultimate goal turned to making Heaven her home. She became an active member in the church. She taught Sunday school during the 1970s. For many years, she visited and helped spread the gospel to elderly persons living in rest homes throughout the community.

Pearl was a devoted wife, a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was an exceptional cook and an excellent homemaker. She honored her parents and lovingly supported all of her siblings until the very end. She wrote poems and letters of encouragement for many in her family when major events occurred in their lives. She also wrote songs praising the love of Jesus.

Pearl enjoyed cooking and outdoor gardening. She also enjoyed reading the Bible and praying for others, but most of all, Pearl loved to tell others about Jesus and what he had done for her.

She is survived by her sisters, Mae Loomis, Mary Purpuree, Betty Jackson, and Ester Ballard; sons, Larry Hamblin and wife, Micki, of Rogue River, Oregon, and Bob Hamblin and wife, Darlene, of Grants Pass; granddaughters, Danielle Hamblin of Grants Pass and Noelle Fresher of Saint Helens, Oregon; one great-granddaughter, Brooklyn; and two great-grandsons, Christopher and Kaven.

She is preceded in death by her parents, George and Lucille Joli; brothers, James, Joseph and Dewey Joli; sisters, Thelma Wickburg, Ida Oldridge, Carolyn Kasper and Arlene Joli; and her husband of 69 years, GL Hamblin, in 2016.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February 2, 2019, at the Apostolic Faith Church in Grants Pass with Pastor John Jordan officiating. A graveside service will follow at Hawthorne Memorial Gardens.