Lillian Pesek
Lillian Pesek, 94, of Greenbush, MN,
formerly of Thief River Falls, Roseau and Strathcona, MN, died on Wednesday,
December 16, 2009 at LifeCare-Greenbush Manor at Greenbush, MN.
Lillian Pesek was born Lillian Hynek, the
daughter of John and Nettie (Horesjh) Hynek, on March 6, 1915 at Thief River
Falls, MN. The family moved to the
Lankin and Whitman, ND area. Lillian
graduated from Whitman High School in 1933.
That fall the family moved to east of Strathcona and then the Benwood area
where she met Frank Pesek. She and Frank
were married on September 12, 1934 at Roseau, MN. They settled onto the Pesek home farm east of
Strathcona and lived and farmed there until 1970 when their son Wesley and wife
Marvel took over the farm. The farm was
designated a Century Farm in July of 2006 and has been in the Pesek family now
for 103 years.
After leaving the farm, they lived at
Roseau before building their retirement home north of Thief River Falls in
1977. Frank Pesek died March 15, 1999.
She then lived at Oak Lodge Apartments and then LifeCare-Greenbush Manor where
she has lived since 2002.
Besides being a farm wife, Lillian worked at
the turkey plants in both Greenbush and Thief River Falls. She also worked as a waitress in Drayton, ND
while Frank worked at the sugar beet plant.
She also worked at Polaris in Roseau from 1968 until she retired in
1978. Frank and Lillian enjoyed many
trips to Florida, Iowa and the western states.
She liked to garden and had lots of flowers. She enjoyed dancing, playing cards, clipping
and gathering newspaper articles and placing them in scrapbooks. She was a wonderful caring Mother and
Grandmother who loved her family and the company of friends, and always offered
a full table of food. Lillian was a
member of Faith Lutheran Church and the Ladies Aide.
Lillian is survived by 4 children: Maxine Olson (special friend Harvey Hanson)
of Thief River Falls, Dorothy (George) Didrikson of Badger, Gladys Thompson of
Thief River Falls and Wesley (Marvel) Pesek of Strathcona, 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and
8 great-great-grandchildren.
Lillian was preceded in death by her
husband, parents, 2 sisters—Daisy Hynek (in infancy) & Rose Bjerk,
half-brother—Joe Hynek and half-sister—Ann King. 2 granddaughters—Laura & Rhonda Wahlert
and 1 great-granddaughter—Sadie Didrikson.
Funeral Services were held on Monday,
December 21 in Faith Lutheran Church of
rural Badger with Pastor Louis Hermansen, officiating. Donna Graff was the organist and the
vocalists were Arlene Jenson and JoAnne Strandlund. Pallbearers were her grandsons, Gene &
Gerald Didrikson, Jeffrey Olson, Michael & Aaron Pesek and her
great-grandson, Brandon Wright. Honorary
Pallbearers were all of Lillian’s wonderful caregivers at LifeCare-Greenbush
Manor. Interment was in the Gust
National Cemetery of rural Strathcona with Gieseke Funeral Chapel of Greenbush
in charge of arrangements.