Helen Pederson
Helen Doris Pederson, 94, of Willmar, died on Tuesday, December 13, 201, at Mayo Clinic Health System in Springfield hospital.
Her funeral was held at 10:30 am on Friday, December 16, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Helen Doris Pederson was born on October 8, 1922, in Willmar, Minnesota, the eleventh child of Norwegian immigrants and Willmar residents O. Mandius and Serina Pederson. Helen was 12 years old when her father died and 16 when her mother died. She looked to her siblings, especially her sisters, Louise, Inga, Marie and Margit, for guidance during those formative years. Helen graduated from Willmar High School in 1940.
Following World War II, Helen moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where she began her career working as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense. She soon relocated to Arlington, Virginia, where she worked in the Pentagon for almost four decades. Helen was an avid bowler, traveling with her teams to regional and state tournaments. She also loved painting in water color and oils. She retired as a GS-13 employee for the Department of Defense and remained in the Washington DC area for about five years before returning to Willmar, Minnesota, in 1990.
She celebrated her Norwegian heritage as an active member of the Sons of Norway Lodge in Willmar. While working at the Pentagon in 1950, she took a three-month leave to visit, along with her sisters Louise and Inga, their parents’ homeland and the Langåker Farm on the Island of Karmøy in Norway where both Louise and Inga were born. Helen continued to foster this connection to her mother’s ancestral farm with her nieces and nephews, helping to orchestrate a Pederson Cousin trip to the Langåker Farm in 2014 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her parent’s immigration to America.
Helen’s sisters had taken care of her in her youth and now it was time for Helen to return the service. She cared either directly or indirectly for all four of her sisters as they aged in Willmar. Her sister, Inga (Pederson) Johnson lived with Helen for 12 years until her death at age 103 years in 2009. About a month after the death of her last surviving sister, Margit (Pederson) Erickson in February 2015, Helen was hospitalized and then relocated to an assisted living facility in Willmar. In August 2015, she moved to Springfield to be closer to her nephew, Larry Pederson, and his wife, Kathy. She lived at St John’s Circle of Care’s The Maples assisted living facility until her death.
Although Helen never married she was the beloved aunt of 22 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings and their spouses, Peter and Helen Pederson, John and Louise Emberland, Irvin and Inga Johnson, Trygve and Cora Pederson, Elmo and Marie Sanders, Sigurd and Maxine Pederson, and Neil and Margit Erickson, all of Willmar; Sigvald and Charlotte Pederson of Seattle, Wash.; John and Ida Pederson of Fairfield, Calif.; and Kenneth and Velma Pederson of Torrance, Calif. One niece and one nephew have also preceded her in death.
The Harvey Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar (www.hafh.org) assisted the family with funeral arrangements.