Pearl M. Brown Zerke 1911-1994

ZERKE, BROWN, ALLEN, ORRIS, GRIESE, YSKER, PELLNER, OELKERS, PETERSON, VAN VALKENBURG

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 10/13/2012 at 22:37:44

Pearl Zerke
Estherville – Services for Pearl M. Zerke, 83, of Estherville will be held Thursday, October 27 at 1 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church with Pastor Dennis Bohren officiating. Interment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Estherville. She died Monday, October 24 at Holy Family Hospital.

Visitation will be held from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 26 at Henry-Olson-Fuhrman Funeral Home in Estherville.

She was born July 31, 1911 in a covered wagon near the east shore of Diamond Lake near Lake Park and her father delivered her. She was the daughter of Dick and Olive May (Allen) Brown. In September, 1911, her family moved to Estherville and she received her education in the Estherville schools. She married Clifford Orris in 1932 at Sioux Falls, S.Dak.

On March 4, 1943, she married Herman Zerke at Fairmont, Minn. After her marriage, the couple farmed until 1968 when they moved into Estherville. She enjoyed gardening, reading, feeding and watching birds and the beauty of nature. She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, the Mary-Esther Circle and quilting.

Survivors included: sons, Gary Orris of Fairbanks, Ala.; Darwin Orris of Phoenix, Ariz.; Arnold Zerke of Estherville; Dennis Zerke of Estherville; daughters, Mrs. Carl (Delores) Griese of Dolliver, Mrs. John (Linda) Ysker of Belmond; Donna Zerke of Estherville; sixteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren; sisters, Daisy Pellner of Charles City; Alice Peterson of Osage; Mrs. Elmer (Gladys) Oelkers of Dunnell, Minn.; Vivian Van Valkenburg of Omaha; and brother Morton Brown of Stuart, Va.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband on May 31, 1983, one grandson, one granddaughter and three brothers. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, October 26, 1994)