Pearl Helen (Maa) Eliassen passed peacefully at age 86 on Sunday, June 1, 2014, early in the morning at Keystone Senior Living in Prior Lake, MN.
Our dear Mother was born in Lawler, MN on January 23, 1928, to Oscar and Fiina (Sturvist) Maa as the fifth of six children. She grew up on the second family farm outside of Tamarack, MN where she endured the hard labor required on a farm, which included milking cows, making hay, feeding the animals, gardening, and many other chores. However, she also treasured these experiences for the valuable life lessons they provided, including the importance of hard work, teamwork, generosity, and austerity. She had many fond memories from her childhood of her family, the simplicity of life, of having good neighbors, and enjoying a sauna every Saturday night before jumping in the lake or rolling in the snow to cool off.
Pearl’s parents emigrated from Finland and she was very proud of her Finnish heritage. She was well known for her “SISU,” which is what Finns call their innate, immensely strong-will and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds such as dairy farming in northern Minnesota.
She was the first of her family to graduate from high school and enjoyed attending reunions at McGregor High School. After graduation, she worked briefly in Duluth before making the bold decision to move to California where she was seeking better employment and to broaden her horizons. Once out west, brave Pearl even traveled by herself to Hawaii by ship and returned with brightly colored muumuus for her sisters and shirts for the husbands and nephews.
In California, Pearl was reintroduced to Johan Eliassen, a handsome Norwegian immigrant whom she had originally met in Duluth when he was attending the University of Minnesota. The happy couple was united in marriage June 18, 1960, at First Lutheran Church in Torrance, CA where they made their home on Marjorie Avenue. Pearl enjoyed her role as the loving wife of ‘John’ and mother to their son Erik and daughter Britt. Pearl loved all children and often volunteered at the elementary schools. Over the years, she hosted many family gatherings and holiday dinners. This is where she showed off her baking skills, which included her infamous apple, custard, and lemon meringue pies, cinnamon rolls, krumkake, and numerous types of cookies that always filled the cookie jars.
Pearl enjoyed the great outdoors and was often seen walking around the neighborhood or at the beach. She was very friendly and would start up a conversation with practically anyone. Additionally, Pearl enjoyed the numerous family vacations as well as the “every-other-summer” road trips to Minnesota in the old Cadillac to visit relatives. She also made a couple of trips to Norway, Sweden, and Finland, a cross-country train trip from St. Paul, MN to Seattle, WA, and an Alaskan cruise with her friends. She and John always loved dancing, especially the polka, but John often was the one providing the music on his button accordion. Pearl moved back to MN in the spring of 2012 to be closer to Britt and family.
Pearl was outgoing, personable, fun loving with a great sense of humor, and the ultimate compliment….a great mother and a very loving grandmother. She was also a devoted and loyal wife who sadly lost her husband to cancer nearly 20 years ago. In addition to husband Johan, she was also preceded in death by her parents Oscar and Fiina Maa; sisters Aune Arfman and Alice Moe; brother Ossie Maa.
She will be forever loved and deeply missed by her son Erik Eliassen and daughter Britt (Mauricio) Decaroli; her wonderful grandchildren Kristin Eliassen, Andres Decaroli, and Katarina Decaroli; sisters Beatrice Freese and Doris Lomprey, and many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends. We will miss Pearl’s laughter, her spirited conversations, her playful teasing, and her warm-hearted hugs.
Visitation will be Friday, June 20th, from 4-7 p.m. at Ballard-Sunder Funeral Home, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake, and one hour prior to her Celebration of Life service at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 21st at Holy Trinity United Methodist Church, 16150 Arcadia Ave. SE, Prior Lake. Pastor Chad Gilbertson will preside.
