the Paly Voice

Gail Wells Petty scholarship

Elisa Rerolle, Dec 08

Along with millions of other Americans that morning, an eighteen-year-old Gail Petty woke to the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was Dec. 7, 1941, the same day as her organ concert.

As news of the catastrophe trickled in, Petty doubted whether anyone would show up to fill the church’s 2,000 seats, but as she mounted the steps to the organ, she looked over a packed room.

Gail Wells Petty scholarship

Elisa Rerolle, Dec 08

Along with millions of other Americans that morning, an eighteen-year-old Gail Petty woke to the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was Dec. 7, 1941, the same day as her organ concert.

As news of the catastrophe trickled in, Petty doubted whether anyone would show up to fill the church’s 2,000 seats, but as she mounted the steps to the organ, she looked over a packed room.