Thief River Falls – Pearl England, 88, of Thief River Falls, died on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014 at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D.
Burial will be held at a later date at Sunnyside Cemetery, Harvey, N.D.
Pearl Alice (Bjelland) McMahon England was born on Nov. 5, 1926 in Minneapolis, the daughter of Lars and Gusta (Reierson) Bjelland. She was confirmed at the First Covenant Church in Minneapolis. Pearl attended school and graduated in Minneapolis in 1944. She later attended nursing school and received her LPN certification.
Pearl met Hilton McMahon at a bar on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis called, “The Flame.” They were married Nov. 16, 1951 at the First Covenant Church in Minneapolis. Together, they had four children: Robert, Kathleen, Patricia, and Hilton Jr. (Tom). They moved to Thief River Falls, where Hilton worked as a policeman and Pearl worked for Northwestern Hospital in Obstetrics. She worked there until after her son, Tom was born in May of 1956.
After a house fire in 1957, the family moved back to Minneapolis, where Pearl and Hilton owned “The Country Kitchen,” a family restaurant. They also owned a restaurant called, “The Little Inn,” across the street.
In 1963, Pearl and her family moved to Harvey, N.D. There Pearl worked as a cook in a local restaurant.
Pearl and Severin England were married Aug. 24, 1974 in Harvey. They moved to Velva, N.D., where they owned and operated a café. Later, they moved to Bottineau, N.D. There, they were close to their favorite lake where they enjoyed fishing.
Pearl and Severin moved to Thief River Falls where she worked at Carol’s Café and Joppru’s Café as a cook. Severin passed away on Dec. 4, 2003. Pearl continued to make her home in Thief River Falls, living with Tom and Pam McMahon at their home until moving to Valley Home.
Pearl enjoyed fishing, bingo, cooking, gardening, crocheting, going to the casino, and spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Pearl is survived by her children, Kathleen (Kent) Lemoine and Tom (Pam) McMahon, both of Thief River Falls; grandchildren, Candice Miller of Thief River Falls, Holly (Jason) Funk of Park Rapids, Crystal (Jason) Cota of Bemidji, Jessica Nordby of Grygla, and Angela (Nick) Larson of Thief River Falls; 13 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death are her husband, Severin; daughter, Patricia and son, Robert; her parents, Lars and Gusta Bjelland; sisters, Sylvia, Selma, Gladys, Myrtle, Nellie; brothers, Arthur, Orville, and George; nephew, Jim Moss and great-nephew, Michael Howell.