Vernon Folke Pearson, 83, of Victoria, B.C., passed away at home on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015 with family and friends close by.
Vernon, also known as “Van,” was born Feb. 15, 1932 in Fort Frances, Ont. to Marta (Sundin) Pearson and Victor Pearson, who immigrated to Minnesota from Jamptland, Sweden.
He married Lillian Grygorcewicz in Fort Frances in 1954. They raised three children, Tina, Victor, and Ruthann.
Vernon worked nine years at the Boise Cascade pulp and paper mill in Fort Frances before striking out on his own in 1959 with timber limits for the then-remote areas around Rainy Lake’s Red Gut Bay and the Turtle River near Mine Centre, in the territories of the Nigigoonsiminikaaning and Seine River First Nations.
With his family, he built logging, tourist, and sawmill operations that became Pearson’s Red Pine Resort, Vic Pearson and Sons, and Pearson’s Red Gut Bay Landing.
In 1967, he built Pearson’s Road to connect Red Gut Bay to the newly-extended Highway 11.
He provided logs to Boise Cascade and to mills in Northwestern Ontario and Minnesota, as well as railway ties to CN Rail, from his sawmills at Red Gut Bay.
Vernon retired to Victoria, where he enjoyed hiking the Pacific Ocean shoreline and carving in cedar.
After a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, his final years were spent in the company of many dear friends at the Cridge Village Seniors’ Centre, where he lived until his passing.
Vernon was predeceased by his parents; siblings, Mildred (Pearson) Kelly, William Pearson, Signor Pearson, and Stanley Pearson; brother-in-law, Thomas Kelly and former sister-in-law, Nina Tichoniuk; and niece, Deborah (Pearson) Carlson.
He is survived by his former wife, Lillian Pearson (Fort Frances, Ont.); children, Tina Pearson (Victoria, B.C.), Victor Pearson (Bear Pass, Ont.), and Ruthann Pearson (Kingston, Ont.); grandchildren, Jessica and Samantha Pearson (Fort Frances, Ont.), Lyssa Pearson (Victoria, B.C.) and Julieanne Pearson-debruyn (Toronto, Ont.); and great-grandchildren, Nicholas and Dylan Pearson, sons of Jessica.
He also is survived by many nieces and nephews, and their children and grandchildren.
A memorial gathering will be held Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. at the Cridge Village Centre for Seniors, 1307 Hillside Ave., Victoria, B.C.
A celebration of life gathering for family and friends in Fort Frances will be held in the New Year.
VERNON FOLKE PEARSON
