Joyce Pearse

Joyce Irene Pearse passed away October 7, 2008.   She was born February 4, 1924, in south St. Paul, Minn., the daughter of Albin D. and Ada Mae Challberg. Her father was a superintendent for the Cudahy Meat Packing Co., and she attended schools in St. Paul, Denver, and Omaha, graduating from Benson High there in 1941. The family moved to Kansas City, where she worked for Western Auto and then Commerce Trust Company, and where she was active in Red Cross work. She married John Pearse on April 19, 1947. An active member of the Westport Presbyterian Church, she served as an elder and was president of the Fellowship Sunday school class. Following their move to Overland Park, Kan., she worked with PTA groups and served as den mother for Cub Scouts and with the moms’ club of the scout troop of which her husband was scoutmaster. She was employed for several years by McDaniel’s Pharmacy. When her husband retired in 1984, they moved to Forsyth, Mo., where she became active in the Community Presbyterian Church, the Forsyth Library and thrift store, the Ozark Mountain Hospice & Hospihelp and the Forsyth Lioness Club. In August 2007 she and her husband moved to John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit, where they were residing at the time of her death. She was preceded in death by her parents and her son, Charles (Charlie) Pearse. She is survived by her husband, John Pearse of Lee’s Summit; her son John Pearse, Jr. of Kansas City, Mo.; her daughter Marian [Dave] Dyer of Overland Park; daughter-in-law Marilyn [Mrs. Charles] Pearse of Baldwin City, Kan.; three grandchildren, Rachel [Jeremy] Stouder, Margaret (Maggie) Pearse, and Sarah Love Dyer, and three great- grandchildren, Elijah, Josiah, and Rebekah Joyce Stouder. Her family wishes to express their gratitude to the entire staff of John Knox Village Care Center and Hospice for the love, compassion and caring they gave Joyce during the past four months.   Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, October 25, 2008, at Westport Presbyterian Church in Kansas City. In lieu of flowers, her wishes were for donations to be made to either the Diabetes Foundation in memory of her son, Charlie, or to the

Susan G. Komen for the Cure in celebration of her daughter, Marian.