Pearl Bernice Anderson

Pearl Anderson was born on August 18, 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the house her dad built with her six brothers and three sisters. She attended Bancroft Elementary School, Fowell Junior High School, Central High School, and a Vocational High School where she took business courses, bookkeeping, and became a Comptometer Operator. She got a job at Sterling Electric in Minneapolis.

In June of 1944 she met her husband, Harlan, through her Sunday school teacher, Marie. He was being drafted into the army so he asked if he could write her and Pearl agreed. That is how it all started.

On Pearl’s 24th birthday, August 18th, 1946, they got engaged and had a party with all the relatives. They were married on June 21, 1947 at Elim Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN by Harlan’s uncle.

They took a trip to California to see if Harlan could get a job at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach. They hired him and they drove back to Minnesota as they had to be back in California in ten days for Harlan to go to work.

A year later, they built a home in Lynwood. Harlan’s uncle was the contractor and they lived there for 68 years, until she moved to Leisure World in 2018. Harlan passed away in 2016.

She is survived by her daughter, Nancy, and her son, Mark (Barbara). She has four grandchildren, Erin, Cathy (James), Clara (Mark), and Mathew. She has two great granddaughters, Nora and Wyni.

Pearl enjoyed traveling visiting Mexico, Hawaii, and Sweden. As a family they made many road trips back and forth to Minnesota and North Dakota every summer. She would go to the river and water skied until she was 94. She even rode a horse on her 98th birthday. Pearl also enjoyed, playing the piano, singing solos and duets, reading, baking chocolate chip cookies, sewing, and taking an hour walk but never drove a car.

At Leisure World, she was involved with the Leisure World Baptist Church. She played the piano for the Bible Study, liked to sing in the choir and going out to eat afterwards too!

To celebrate Pearl’s 100th birthday, she had a big party in the Minneapolis area with over 100 relatives there. She is also had a party with her Leisure World Baptist Church friends and family.

In July, she fell and broke her hip. She had surgery on it and was sent to a skilled nursing facility for rehab. A broken hip was not going to keep her down! After all her birthday parties, she was admitted to another skilled nursing facility. She had a massive stroke on Friday, September 2nd and died in her sleep on September 7th.

Pearl said that what kept her going strong is the Lord had been with her for the past 100 years and had given her a manifold of blessings for which she was very grateful to God. She loved God, prayed to him every day, said God took care of her, and saved her. Pearl said she was ready for heaven.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.whitesmortuary.com for the Anderson family.