Father Everett Pearson

Reverend Everett Pearson passed away on August 23, 2022 at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. He was born October 2, 1960 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. Proving by 2nd grade a challenge for the DC public school system, Father Pearson's mother placed him in Catholic school. He attended Nativity School in Washington, D.C. and Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., graduating in the Class of 1978. Father Pearson always had a sense of ministry even from as young as 6 years of age. He would position siblings and playmates on steps to use as pews then stand before them singing hymns and preaching. Working with the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), coaching basketball, and working with the Boy Scouts of America, Fr. Pearson's vocational calling only became stronger. Deciding to act on his dreams at the behest of the late Bishop William Curlin, Father Pearson entered the seminary, attending Borromeo College in Cleveland, Ohio, and the North American College in Rome, where he graduated cum laude and was ordained to the diaconate at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on April 11, 1991. Father Pearson was then ordained a Roman Catholic priest on November 17, 1991 at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, Washington, D.C. His first assignment was as Parochial Vicar to Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Takoma Park, Maryland. He also served as visiting priest to his home parish of Nativity. In 1994, he continued his theological studies in Rome and then returned in 1995 to serve as a temporary Parochial Vicar at Saint Matthias Parish in Lanham, Maryland. Later in 1995, he was assigned as Parochial Vicar to Mount Calvary Parish in Forestville, Maryland and then as Parochial Vicar to Assumption Parish in Washington, D.C. in 1997. Father Pearson was named Pastor of Holy Name Parish in Washington, D.C. in 1998 and Pastor of Mount Calvary Parish in Forestville in 2009. In 2012, he was also appointed as Administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in Forestville, Maryland, serving both Mount Calvary Parish and Holy Spirit Parish until the present. Father Pearson served as Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, St. Charles Lwanga Council, Chaplain of the First Friday Club, and as a member of the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. He was also a member of the Vocations Team and the Priest Retirement Board of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Father Pearson was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Dorothy Pearson, and by his brother, Anthony Pearson. He is survived by his sister, Camilla Pearson, Aunts, Frances Pearson, Clara Voss and Esther Thompson, and an Uncle Charles Pardue, and a loving host of family, friends and colleagues. The Vigil will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2022, at Mount Calvary Church, Forestville, Maryland from 3:00-7:00 p.m. with the Vigil Mass at 7:30 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Mount Calvary Church on Friday, September 2, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Father Everett Pearson

October 2, 1960 - August 23, 2022