Arlys Eileen Pederson

A Celebration of Life for Arlys Pederson, of Morris, formerly of Donnelly, Minnesota will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at the Morris Evangelical Free Church in Morris.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church.  Burial will be at Vinger Cemetery in Donnelly, Minnesota.  

Arlys Eileen Pederson was born February. 4, 1930 in Slayton, MN to Merle and Lewellia (Voges) Severance.  She lived near Lake Wilson and attended the country school until they moved to Stevens County; where she attended school in Alberta.  Her family bought a farm south of Chokio, so her senior year was spent at Chokio High School, graduating in 1948.

On August 20, 1948, Arlys married her sweetheart, George Pederson.  They began married life living in Morris where she worked at Habicht’s, as a telephone operator, and later at Bon Jo’s ladies clothing store.  They moved north of Alberta in 1953, building a lovely home in 1963 where they lived until the fall of 1974.  At that time, they moved to Detroit Lakes where Arlys again worked as a telephone operator until it was phased out.  To remain with the Telephone company, Arlys chose a position in St. Cloud.  She retired from AT&T in 1992, and then 1993 brought another move back to Donnelly, Minnesota, and then to Morris in 2018. They resided in Minnesota during the warmer months and during the cold months, Arlys and George enjoyed traveling south to Arizona and Texas.  Arlys really loved it when they discovered a Christian RV Park called Bibleville in Alamo, Texas.  What a joy it was to Arlys to attend some type of Bible conference every other week and hear Christian music groups the other weeks for three months every year.  Sweet Christian fellowship with friends who also loved the Lord was icing on the cake!

Throughout her years, Arlys loved gardening and canning everything she grew. She didn’t want to waste anything!  She also loved flowers.  Their beauty gave her great joy. She loved spending time with her children, grandchildren, friends and relatives and serving delicious meals and desserts.  

In May of 2020, it was time for Arlys to move to West Wind Village for more care than her sweetheart could give.  In early December of 2022, Arlys and George both moved to a facility in Bloomington.  They were under the same roof but in different wings and very close to some of their children.  She was very happy and doing well with the move, but God had a better home prepared for her.  Arlys went to her heavenly home very peacefully on December 27, 2022.  She was 92 years old. 

She is survived by her husband of 74 years, George Pederson; her five children: Charles (Paulette) Pederson of Apache Junction, AZ, David (Patty) Pederson of Buffalo, Diane (Wayne) Surface of Honolulu, HI, Douglas (Marcela) Pederson of Bloomington, and Aaron (Brenda) Pederson of Becker; 11 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren; two brothers: Orville (Donna) Severance of Cyrus,  and Lyle (Norma) Severance of Billings, MT; sister-in-law, Ruth Severance of Duluth, and brother-in-law, Claire Biggs of Springfield, MO.

She is preceded in death by her parents: Merle & Lewellia (Voges) Severance; stepmother, Gladys (Laughead) Severance; brothers: Earl (& Viola) Severance and James Severance; and sisters: LaVonne (& LeRoy) Mathisen and Norma Biggs.