Marlene Yvonne Pedersen

Funeral services for Marlene Pedersen of Alexandria, MN, formerly of Morris, MN, will be held Friday, October 27, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria, MN, with Reverend Angie Larson officiating.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.  Burial will be Friday, October 27, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. at Summit Cemetery in Morris, MN.

Marlene Yvonne Fischbach Pedersen was born to Louis M. Fischbach and Hulda Anna (Trantow) Fischbach in Paynesville, Minnesota, October 24, 1936.

In 1944 the family moved to Seattle, Washington where her father was an interpreter for German war prisoners. When her grandfather Emil Trantow passed away, they moved onto a farm site built by Emil Trantow in Swan Lake Township, Stevens County, near Morris, MN.

Marlene graduated from Morris High School in 1954. She graduated from Moorhead State College with a BS degree in elementary teaching in August, 1957. She taught in Circle Pines, MN, Wahpeton, ND, St. Paul, and Hancock, MN for a total of 34 years. She was nominated for Minnesota teacher of the year in 1988.

She was united in marriage to Merrill L. Pedersen April 3, 1958 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, in Swan Lake Township, rural Morris, MN. Their daughter Sharon was born in 1960. She was happy and energetic and Marlene and Merrill loved following her activities through high school and college.

In 1963 Merrill and Marlene and Merrill’s brother Ken and wife Jean started the Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris. The family owned and operated the funeral home until 1992 when they sold it to the Vertin Company of Breckenridge, MN. Following retirement Merrill and Marlene made their home on Lobster Lake, Alexandria, MN.

Marlene loved living by Lobster Lake. It was a beautiful site, with great neighbors and beautiful wildlife. For 31 years she fed the birds, squirrels, deer, raccoons, and whoever came to her feeder. She always said she had the fattest squirrels in Douglas County. She loved her big orange cat Mootz and her gray and white cat Ms. Hasenpfeffer and mourned them greatly.

Marlene and Merrill belonged to Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria. She enjoyed gourmet cooking, antiquing, working in the church library, the Red Hats, the women’s activities with the Golden K and Kiwanis and the Alexandria Shrine, and serving on the board of the Stevens County Historical Society. Her greatest passion was books, particularly historical novels, and she had books in every room.

Marlene died October 19, 2023, at the age of 86, at the Alomere Health Hospital in Alexandria, MN.

She is survived by her husband: Merrill of Alexandria, MN; one daughter: Sharon Lynn (Steven) Peterson of Eden Prairie, MN; granddaughter: Kirsten Peterson of Minneapolis, MN; grandson: Kai (Desiree) Peterson of Readstown, WI; one great-granddaughter: Minerva Peterson; one brother: Kenneth (Laurie) Fischbach of Cabot, AR and sister-in-law: Mary Thompson of Detroit Lakes, MN. Marlene is preceded in death by parents: Louis and Hulda Fischbach; brother: Gene (Vi) Fischbach, and brother and sisters-in-law: Don and Barb Pedersen, and Kenneth and Jean Pedersen; brother-in-law: Jim Thompson, and her kitties: Mootz and Ms. Hasenpfeffer.

Memorials preferred to the Stevens County Historical Society or Calvary Lutheran Church.

Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris is in care of the arrangements for Marlene.