April 8, 1918 - January 15, 2014
Luther "Mickey" Frederick Pederson, age 95, recently lived in Mahtomedi, Minnesota.
He was born in Hills, Minnesota to Reverend Elias and Hannah Pederson. He was the youngest of his three siblings: Sister, Henrietta; brothers: Reuben and Morton.
The family moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota when Mickey was a small child where his father pastored a Lutheran Church for many years. Upon graduation from high school he moved to the Twin Cities and attended Augsburg College for a semester or two. During the war years he worked at “the Kelly Farm” (Hamm’s Brewing Estate.) He then went to work for Toro Mfg. Co as a machinist and later became a Tool & Die Maker. After 39 years he retired from Toro.
He met and married Elaine Munson in 1938 and had two children: Carol & Gary. He and Elaine divorced in 1957. He later married Ethel Duffy in 1960 and adopted her daughter Lois.
Mickey was a man of many adventures. He loved to snowmobile. He was an avid fisherman in both sun and snow; he was always "trying" to catch fish in Lake Milacs. You always knew who Mickey was by his distinctive blue eyes and red suspenders. He enjoyed his years living in Texas with his late wife, Ethel. Their big Christmas dinners at Kozlak's Royal Oak Restaurant, before they headed south, will never be forgotten. But Mickey thought nobody's cooking compared to Ethel's.
Mickey had a passion for Indian and Harley Davidson Motorcycles for many years and had the distinction of attending the first, what is now called Sturgis Rally, in 1937. He was also a life member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, and was an avid bowler having bowled in the Toro League for many years.
When Ethel passed away in 2009, after 49 years of marriage, Mickey relocated back to Minnesota where he first resided at Presbyterian Homes of Arden Hills, and then the Lighthouse of Mahtomedi.
Preceded in death by wife, Ethel; parents, Rev. Elias and Hannah Pederson & his siblings. Survived by children, Carol (Andy) Whitman, Lois (Roy) Hansen and Gary (Pamela) Pederson; grandchildren, Cindy (Mike) Young, Katina (Paul) Lamberty, Karie (Bob) Thomas; great-grandchildren, Jason (Brooke) Young, Joshua Young, Matthew (Lauren) Young, Eric Young, Elisabeth Piddy, Travis Piddy, Nick Thomas, Josie Thomas, and Andrew Thomas, and many other nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
Special thanks to The Lighthouse of Mahtomedi staff for their great and loving care of Mickey these past two years.