Luz Ann Pearson departed this mortal life for her deserved eternal rest and wholeness on 31 May 2020 after a valiant struggle with emphysema, and not until her last full measure of love and devotion. She passed from the loving arms of her husband and children to her Father’s arms in Heaven.
She was born 28 September 1957 to Donald and Patricia Duley in Boone, Iowa. She spent her childhood there, later in Davenport, then Bettendorf where she participated in track and earned her high school diploma in 1975. She worked several jobs to put herself through the RN program at Scott College and then received her first nursing job in the pediatric intensive care unit at Decatur Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Ill., in the summer of 1983.The welcome party provided by the hospital for newly hired nurses was crashed by a newly started first year family practice resident who pursued her until she relented and consented to marry.
She married Linden Ray Pearson MD on 30 October 1982 and upon his graduation moved to Mount Vernon, Ill., where he established his medical practice. She worked in the Crossroads Community Hospital ICU until her first of three children was born in 1985, then worked part-time thereafter in the Sewing Shop. After the children grew, she became her husband’s part-time office nurse and full-time book keeper. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church and served there as a deacon, then elder.
Her first name means “light” and she was just that to her family and many friends. Her passions were many and included sewing, reading, Johnny Mathis and James Taylor music, red licorice, powdered donuts and the Island of St. Croix with its turtles and dolphins.
She is survived by her husband of nearly 38 years in Mount Vernon, Ill.; son, Ian and his wife, Serena and grandchildren: Colleen and Maggie Pearson of Antioch, Tenn.; daughter, Sedra and husband, Christopher Ketcham DO, and grandchildren: Conrad, Clara and Clark of Granger, Ind.; daughter, Signey Pearson of Indianapolis, Ind.
She leaves a sister, Kim Traner and husband Chuck of Houston, Texas; brother, Shawn Duley of Rigby, Idaho; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Denise.
Luz is leaving a legacy of unqualified love, devotion, grit and determination. She is profoundly missed.
She specified that her earthly remains were to be cremated and her ashes scattered into the warm Caribbean waters of her beloved St. Croix.
A Celebration of Life event will occur later in the summer. Memorials may be made in Luz’s honor to the American Lung Association.
Call Newell Funeral Home 618-246-0100 or visit www.newellfuneralhome.com for further information.
