Helen Pederson

Helen Pederson, 83, of rural Fergus Falls, MN passed away on Sunday, March 7, 2021 at Pioneer Care Center under the care of LB Hospice.

Helen (Berg) Pederson was born on January 16, 1938 at home in Norwegian Grove Township, MN to Odin and Gilma Berg. She was baptized, and later confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church. She grew up on a dairy farm in Erhard’s Grove Township on a farm situated along the Pelican River. She attended country school in Erhard’s Grove Township and graduated from Pelican Rapids High School in 1955. She worked at Lake Region Rural Electric Cooperative from 1955-1959. She met Donald Pederson at Deer Lake in Otter Tail County in the summer of 1956, and they were married on May 23rd, 1959.  They have three children – Cindy, Kevin and Brian.

After marrying Don, Helen moved to rural Fergus Falls and joined First Lutheran Church. Helen was a true farm wife, helping with the milking during haying or harvesting, and loved being part of a family dairy farm, despite the hard work and long days.  Her huge garden was a sight to behold, and many long hours were spent planting, weeding, harvesting and preserving the fruits of her labor. Family members looked forward to fresh vegetables, and her homemade bread and overnight buns, cinnamon rolls, and other delicious goodies. She loved to sew and made many of her own and her daughter’s clothes.   Helen was involved in ALCW at First Lutheran Church and served as treasurer during the 1980s. For 20 years, Helen was employed by Lutheran Social Services as the Site Manager/Meal Coordinator for the Fergus Falls Senior Center. She loved her job and made many wonderful friends while she worked there. Helen also served as the Buse Township Treasurer for many years and enjoyed working closely with other township officers.  After retiring, she continued to crochet, cook, bake and maintain a household for as long as possible, with help from her husband Don. She loved to attend bible study at First Lutheran Church with Don, and she valued the caring, sharing and nurturing of this group. One of Helen’s favorite shows was Lawrence Welk, and she looked forward to watching reruns every Sunday evening.  In March of 2020, Helen moved to Pioneer Care Center in Fergus Falls.  She was loved and cared for there by the wonderful staff, and they all struggled together to deal with the loneliness and isolation over the past year due to the pandemic.

Most of all, Helen loved her family.  Time with children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, old friends and neighbors was more important to her than anything.  Helen loved birthday parties, holidays, anniversaries, dancing, gatherings of any kind, going to sports and music events of their grandchildren both during high school and college, socializing with all their Buse Township 4H and farm friends, visiting with friends at the Otter Tail County Fair, spending time at Jewett Lake with sister Darlene and her family, and at Deer Lake with sister-in-law Evy and her family. Many happy, relaxed times were spent around their kitchen table, and no one ever left hungry. She loved playing games with her family and neighbors and was quite a sharp whist player.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Arland Berg. She is survived by her husband of nearly 62 years, Don Pederson, children Cindy (Brad) Gray, Kevin (Ruth) Pederson, and Brian (Trisha) Pederson, seven grandsons – Beau (Kayla) Gray, Thomas (Sadie) Pederson, Andrew (Aly) Gray, Matthew (Kelsey) Pederson, Jacob Pederson, Michael (Nichole) Pederson, and Chris Pederson, and two great grandsons – Bennett and Henry Gray, brother Ordean Berg, sister Darlene (David) Johnson, sister-in-law Phyllis (Chuck) Green, and many nephews and nieces.