Marybelle "Jean" (Peterson) Pearson Ober (1916-2011)

OBER, PEARSON, PETERSON, CHALMA, MARSHALL, LEO, BALTON, MERRILL, TYRRELL

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 8/12/2012 at 17:47:22

THE STORY CITY HERALD, Story City, Story County, Iowa, Wednesday, January 4, 2012.

Jean Ober, a long time Ellsworth resident, died Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames. A visitation was held on Sunday, January 1, 2012 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Trinity Lutheran Church in Ellsworth, Iowa. Jean's funeral service was at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, January 2, 2012, at Trinity Lutheran followed by an internment service at Homewood Cemetery just north of Ellsworth. Burial was followed by a luncheon in the Fellowship Hall of Trinity Lutheran.

Marybelle "Jean" Peterson was born on May 14, 1916 at Rose Lawn, the family farm, four miles north of Ellsworth. She, like her father before her, was baptized at Rose Grove Lutheran Church. Jean was the oldest of five siblings; Wendell, Neva, Marjorie and Beth. Her parents, Perry and Nellie Peterson, were life-long residents of the Ellsworth community. Perry worked as a fanner and a carpenter. For several years Perry and Nellie served as custodians of Trinity Lutheran Church in Ellsworth.

Jean attended the Prairie Center country school until high school. She graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1933 during the depth of the depression. After graduating from high school she worked as a `hired girl' for Hans Miller, a widower living on a farm near Jewell, for $3.00 a week. In the spring, Jean applied and was hired to teach country school at Liberty #8. Since she did not have a teaching certificate she went to Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls for the summer. She took 15 hours for credit and passed an examination on eight subjects to get her certificate.

She married Howard Ralph Pearson in Canton, South Dakota on August 2, 1935. They married secretly so Jean could continue to teach school until the spring of 1936. They then moved to the D.A. Pearson farm. The following year they moved one mile north to the farm where she lived for the next sixty years. Jean and Howard raised three sons on the farm: Jerry (1938) is now retired from a career of banking and living in Georgetown, Texas. Richard "Dick' (1939) is a retired bank executive and lives in Oak Brook, Illinois and Alan (1946), a retired judge, lives in Dubuque, Iowa.

Jean learned to sew at an early age and making clothes became a life-long passion. As a young girl she assisted with the family sewing and she learned to make most of her own clothes. As her skills continued to develop she made dresses, shirts and suits for her family and friends. Looking back at photos of family holidays and weddings, she was always wearing an outfit she made herself. She also had a love for cooking, baking and cake decorating and was always eager to volunteer her skills for community events or to help friends and neighbors. Wallace's Farmer named Jean an Iowa Master Farm Homemaker in 1963. For several years she worked as a volunteer in the Iowa 'Make It Yourself With Wool Contest'. Six of those years she was State Director.

In 1968, Jean took a job with Your Own United Resources, the local anti-poverty program. While there she held several different positions, ranging from Director of the Homemaker Program to Coordinator in the Manpower Development Training Administration.

She was involved in many community activities during her years on the farm. While her children were growing up she taught Sunday School at Trinity Lutheran Church and held various offices in women's organizations of the church. She was a Cub Scout leader and a Girl's 4-H leader. She was also on the State Advisory Board of the Extension Service of Iowa.

Jean was a faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church and maintained an active interest in the activities of the Ellsworth community until her death. In later years she developed an interest in genealogy and became proficient in genealogical research. She used her home computer for research on the Internet and correspondence. Her other interests included a weekly bridge group and regular workouts at 'Curves'.

After Howard's death she married Clarence 'Bud' Ober in Ellsworth on December 28, 1975. Jean and Bud continued to live on the farm until 1996 when they moved to a town-house in Story City, Iowa. After a long illness Bud passed away in 2002. Jean remained in the townhouse until April 2009 at which time she moved to the independent living unit of Timberland Village in Story City. She lived there until her death.

Jean was preceded in death by her husbands, Howard Pearson on April 4, 1974, and Bud Ober on May 5, 2002, as well as her parents, Perry 0. Peterson and Nellie (Chalma) Peterson, her brother, Wendell Peterson, and her sister, Marjorie Marshall. She is survived by her sisters, Neva (Wayne) Leo and Marybeth (Robert) Balton, as well as her sons, Jerry (Ann) Pearson, Richard (Gail) Pearson and Alan (Patricia) Pearson, seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

She is also survived by Bud's children, Jan (Cleon) Merrill, Leah (Jim) Tyrrell, Steve (Nancy) Ober and Jerry (Trish) Ober, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Jean came into the world during WWI, graduated from high school in the depth of the great depression and started a family during WWII. Her most cherished pleasures and greatest privileges were service to her family, church and community.

The family asks that instead of flowers memorial gifts be made to either Bethany Life Communities, 212 Lafayette Street, Story City, IA 50248 or Homeward Hospice/Israel Family Hospice House, 400 South Dakota Ave, Ames, IA 50014.