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Pearl Franson
PEARL IRENE FRANSON
Guttenberg
Pearl Irene Franson, 98, of Guttenberg, formerly of Coggon and Walker, passed away Friday, June 1, 2018, at Guttenberg Care Center after a short illness. The family will greet friends from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
June 5, 2018, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Central City. Graveside service will follow at 1 p.m. at the Coggon Cemetery, Coggon, conducted by Pastor Sheri Andersen.
Pearl was born June 16, 1919, in Crosby, Minn., to William H. and Jane (Burkholder) Fowler. In 1924, the family moved to Iowa after her father lost his job due to the great Milford Mine disaster, losing her 6-month-old sister to pneumonia and with her mother being sick with a brain tumor. They made their home in Marion and then Independence. Later Pearl made her home in Coggon with her grandparents and then with her aunt and uncle, Mac and Anna Fowler. Pearl attended the Coggon School.
Pearl met and married Oscar Swanson from Ryan. They were married in Kahoka, Mo., in 1941. They were blessed with two children, Kenneth and Karen. They farmed north of Coggon until Oscar passed away in 1967. Pearl then worked at Collins in Cedar Rapids and then at the Coggon School, where she met Harold Franson. They were married in 1970 in Coggon and farmed until retiring and moving to Walker, where they lived for many years and also enjoyed many winters in Florida. Harold became sick and they moved to Guttenberg in 2002 to be closer to her daughter. Harold passed away in 2002.
Pearl continued to live in her own home until 2014, when she moved to River Living Center in Guttenberg, where she resided for three years until a sudden illness. Pearl enjoyed crocheting, quilting and traveling and friends.
Left to cherish her memory are Kenneth and Lynn Swanson of Necedah, Wis., Karen Kulper and Stan Blair of Guttenberg; granddaughter, Denise and Larry Vance of Florida; a stepdaughter, Joyce and Rob Jones of Lincoln, Neb.; many nieces and nephews; and stepgrandchildren.
Pearl was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Oscar; husband, Harold; brothers, William, Harold and Clare "Bud" Fowler; sisters, Bernice Fowler and Ethel Kunzman; and a stepdaughter, Janet Franson Hughes.
Please share a memory of Pearl at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.
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