Myrtle Pollard

• Retired teacher
• PS 181, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Education was everything to Myrtle Pollard, who taught for most of her career at PS 181 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. By the time she retired 17 years ago, Myrtle had taught health education and physical education as well as Adult Basic Education in the Bronx.

Myrtle, age 80, did her undergraduate work at Claflin University, a historically black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and was an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority for 60 years. She completed her Master’s degree at the City College of New York.

Her daughter, Pamela Pollard-Mims, who teaches at PS 251 in Flatlands, Brooklyn, said the family legacy is steeped in the teaching profession. “My, father the late Willis Pollard, and my aunts all worked as teachers for the New York City Department of Education,” she said.

Pollard-Mims said her mother inspired her. Myrtle Pollard loved to sew decorative pillows, enjoyed cooking Southern cuisine and was a faithful member of the United Methodist Church in Westbury, Long Island.

“I saw her being a mom and having a profession, and being able to balance the two,” she said.

Her inspiration touched the next generation as well.

“She inspired me to be educated, independent and to advocate for myself,” said her granddaughter, Ivie, a senior at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, where she is studying psychology and public health.

Condolences may be sent to the family at ivieandme@aol.com

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