Pedersen, Laurence (1898 – 1976)

PEDERSEN, NIELSEN, CHRISTENSEN, HEIDEMAN, HANSEN, LARSEN

Posted By: Shelby County Coordinator (email)
Date: 4/30/2013 at 14:13:28

Laurence Pedersen, the son of Jens Laurits and Elsa Marie Nielsen Pedersen, was born on April 15, 1898, in Hjorring, Denmark.

He died April 2, 1976, at the Manning General Hospital, Manning, Iowa, having attained the age of 77 years, 11 months and 17 days.

Laurence grew to adulthood in Denmark where he was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. He also served in the Danish Navy.

In 1919, he was united in marriage to Marie Margrethe Christensen and to this union three children were born.

In 1920, Mr. and Mrs. Pedersen came to America and established their home in Shelby County, and farmed near Fiscus, Iowa. He then worked as a plumber in Galva and Harlan, Iowa, before returning to farming near Kirkman and Fiscus. In 1940, he opened a plumbing shop in Irwin and operated this for 25 years until his retirement in 1965. While a resident in Irwin, Laurence was a volunteer fireman.

He continued to live in Irwin for a time after his wife’s death on October 30, 1965. In the fall of 1971 he moved to the Terrace Apartments in Manning where he lived until his health failed. He then made his home with his daughter until the fall of 1975 when he became a resident at the Manning Plaza.

Mr. Pedersen had been a member of the Bethel Baptist Church in Harlan, the Merrill’s Grove Baptist Church in Fiscus, and at the time of his death was a member of the United Methodist Church of Irwin, Iowa.

In addition to his wife, Marie, he was preceded in death by his parents; by two brothers, Herman and Svend; and by one sister, Lily Heideman.
He is survived by his two sons, Gordon Pedersen, of Omaha, Nebraska, and Kenneth Pedersen, of Irwin, Iowa; one daughter, Vernie (Mrs. Harold Wetzel) of Manning, Iowa.

He is also survived by four sisters, Emmy Hansen, Anna Larsen, Kristina Nielsen, and Emilie Pedersen, all of Denmark, 8 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, other relatives and many friends.

Funeral services were held at the United Methodist Church in Irwin, Iowa at 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 5, 1976, with the Rev. J. Elmer Brunk, pastor of the Irwin United Methodist Church, officiating. Interment was in Merrill’s Grove Cemetery with Robert Dale, Larry Reder, Jerry Weremy, Kenneth Kaul, Daniel Hansen, and Harold Wetzel, Jr. serving as casket bearers.

Transcribed from a newspaper clipping by Thomas Kruse. Newspaper name and date unknown.