Obituary

Frederick Moore Pearson

July 17, 1940 - March 19, 2016 Resided in Commerce City, CO

On Saturday March 19, 2016, Frederick "Fred" Pearson died peacefully due to complications caused by dementia. Fred was born in Gastonia, North Carolina on July 17, 1940 to Dwight and Helen Pearson in the home where he was raised. He grew up and lived in Gastonia until he went to art school at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. At Ringling he was nicknamed "Friendly Freddy" and he met his future wife Ilona. Fred left art school before earning a degree and joined the United States Army where he worked as a carpenter. While Fred was in the army stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia he and Ilona were married. Shortly after their marriage Ilona became pregnant and Fred was sent to serve near Paris, France. He loved Paris and talked fondly about the city throughout his life. After Todd was born, Ilona moved to Colorado to be near her family while Fred was overseas. In 1965, Fred honorably discharged from the army and moved to Colorado to be with Ilona and Todd. They lived in various places in Denver, Longmont and in the mountains near Estes Park while Fred worked a variety of jobs until Fred started working for IBM (where he worked for about twenty years). During that time they had two more sons Shawn and Christian. The family eventually built a house in Northglenn where they lived for around twenty years. While living in Northglenn, Fred's daughter, Heather, was born and the family grew up.

Fred and Ilona divorced in 1989, everyone moved away from the home in Northglenn and Fred quit working at IBM. After that he worked a variety of jobs and lived in the Denver area until his retirement. Several years after his retirement Fred discovered Helena, Montana. He moved there because he wanted to live in a smaller, quieter place; a place where he could be himself. While in Helena he particularly enjoyed walking (and later riding his scooter) down Last Chance Gulch, visiting his favorite coffee houses and eating establishments, and making friends. However, in 2015 he became ill and could no longer live alone so was moved back to the Denver area to be closer to family and be better supported.

Fred was an intensely quiet and private man who mostly kept to himself. Although he did not have much formal education beyond high-school and did not share a lot with many people, he was an intelligent man who enjoyed reading about and studying things that interested him. He had a contemptable view of all formal religious organizations, but his spirituality was deeply important to him, and he explored a variety of spiritual practices. He was a dedicated supporter of liberal

politics and ideologies, and an environmentalist. He loved hiking, the occasional bicycle ride, going out to eat at a restaurant at any opportunity, dogs, calming crying babies, watching television, laughing loudly at funny things on television, going to movies, arguing with people even if it was for no good reason, saving money, deep conversations and smiling at himself in the mirror. Though he did not express it often and didn't always have the best relationships with all of them, he loved everyone in his family enormously. He was preceded in death by his parents Dwight and Helen Pearson. He is survived by his brothers Dwight and Michael Pearson, and their respective families all of whom live throughout the South. He is also survived by his above mentioned sons and daughter, his former wife Ilona, his grandchildren Hayley, Duncan and Jay, his daughters-in-law Amber and Marcie and his son-in-law Scott. Now that he has gone to continue his journey, he will be missed by those that love him.