Pedersen, Paul 1924-2009

PEDERSEN, JONES, BIGGS, HOUSTON, ROMANI

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 2/22/2010 at 09:01:24

The Grinnell Herald-Register (Grinnell, Iowa) Aug. 17, 2009

PAUL PEDERSEN

Paul Pedersen, 85, of Grinnell died Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, at St. Francis Manor.

A funeral service was held Saturday, Aug. 15, at St. John's Lutheran Church with the Rev. Kathryn Roys, pastor of the church, officiating. Interment followed in Hazelwood Cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. John's Lutheran Church in care of Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 368 Grinnell IA 50112.

He was born on March 31, 1924, in Sheridan Township, rural Grinnell, to Orville and Helen Jones Pedersen. He was raised on the family farm and attended Sheridan No. 9 rural school, then graduated from Grinnell High School and attended Grinnell College.

On Nov. 14, 1948, he was united in marriage with Edna Biggs at Trinity Lutheran Church, rural Grinnell. They farmed southwest of Grinnell. After his wife died in 1963, he was united in marriage with Dorothy Houston in 1967 at St. John's Lutheran Church. They resided in Grinnell where he was farm director for Radio Station KGRN, also serving as area manager for DeKalb Seed Corn Company unitl his retirement in the mid-1980s. He and his wife moved to Tomah, Wis., in 2000; following her death he returned to Grinnell.

He had served as a member of the Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church and in his youth was active in Future Farmers of American (FFA) and 4-H.

He is survived by his sons Perre Pedersen and Kyle Pedersen, both of Grinnell, and Clyde Houston of Tomah, Wis., and his daughter Neeva Pedersen of Denver, Colo.; five grandchildren; three great grandchildren and one sister Ruth Romani of San Jose, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents; both his wives; one son Wayne Houston and one brother Karl Pedersen.