Reflections on Arnell-Anderson Gbekor

Arnell Anderson-Gbekor, the beloved daughter of the late James Anderson and Maggie Anderson was born on January 14, 1966, in Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia. She transitioned to her new life on Saturday, May 4, 2019.

Arnell received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at the age of nine, having faithfully accompanied her beloved grandmother, Lucille Darden, and her mother, Maggie Anderson, to church. She was baptized at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Hinesville, Georgia. After making her home in Severna Park, she united with Silas First Baptist Church of Severna Park. At Silas First Baptist Church, Arnell became a member of the Usher Board and was a faithful participant in the Women's Ministry.

Arnell attended Liberty County public schools in Georgia. She completed her high school education at Bradwell Institute in 1984. Thirsting for more education she enrolled at Coastal Georgia Community College in Brunswick, Georgia. She left Georgia for Maryland after a year and enrolled in Essex Community College, Baltimore County, Maryland, from which she graduated with an Associate Degree in Arts in 1990. She proceeded to Bowie State University where she completed her baccalaureate degree in social work in 1993. She immediately enrolled in the School of Education graduate program in Special Education, and completed the program in 1995. Always looking to challenge herself, she enrolled in Towson University's graduate program in Early Childhood Education and successfully completed her studies in December, 2009.

On her life's journey, Arnell met and married the love of her life, Dela Gbekor. They met while working at Georgetown Child Development Center in Forest Haven located in Laural, Maryland. They worked with adults with severe disabilities. Arnell was working part-time to put herself through college. They hit it off quickly. As told by Dela partly because she was one of the few individuals who knew Africa was not a country but a continent. She warmed his heart, because she was genuinely interested and curious about African culture. Very soon they spent their lunch breaks engaged in discussions on African versus African culture in America. Occasionally, Arnell would cook and share lunch with Dela. Dela said, as it goes, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Dela was hooked! They married in a quiet ceremony on May 11, 1991. Dela now says: Arnell married me for potential not for the ease and comfort that an already made man will provide. This union was blessed by God with two wonderful and loved children. Joy and family completeness was now theirs with one beautiful daughter, Delali Aku Gbekor and one charming son Joshua Kofi. Gbekor.

Arnell was an educator. Her first teaching job was at Malcolm X Elementary School in Washington, D.C., a very challenging assignment. However, under the mentorship of Dr. John Pannell, she honed her skills and became an effective classroom teacher. She left Malcolm X Elementary School after five years and went to work in the Prince Georges County Public School system where she taught first at Phyllis E. Williams Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, and then at the Yorktown Elementary School in Bowie and was a pioneer teacher at Northview Elementary School, also in Bowie, from 2007 to November, 2018, when her illness made it extremely difficult for her to continue teaching. She spent twenty years teaching in the Prince George's County Public School system. Arnell was also a certified dyslexia instructor who worked pro bono for the Dyslexia Tutoring Program of Baltimore, providing remedial tutoring to adults and children with dyslexia or dyslexia styles of learning.

Arnell leaves to cherish her memory her beloved husband, Dela Gbekor, her daughter, Delali Aku Gbekor, son, Joshua Kofi Gbekor, brother in-laws: Kplorla Gbekor, Festus Gbekor, Theophilus Gbekor, and her favorite Gbekor family member Edwin Gbekor all of Ghana, West Africa. Maggie Anderson, mother, of Hinesville, Georgia, Lamell Anderson, brother, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Orvell Folson, sister of Covington, Georgia. She also leaves behind an aunt, Mrs. Ernestine Caroll of Albany, Georgia, Georgia Darden, Sandersville, Georgia and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews and friends.

Friends may visit on Saturday May 18, 2019 from 10:00am-11:00am in the Silas First Baptist Church 91 W Earleigh Heights Rd. Severna Park, MD 21146. with a service to follow at 11:00am until 12:00pm. A Repast immediately after the service. Internet to follow in the Lakemont Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Davidsonville, MD.