Pearl (Baker) Bjorgen

Pearl Elaine (Baker) Bjorgen passed away early Monday afternoon, July 1, in her home surrounded by her children.

Pearl was born Nov. 3, 1930, to John Ulysses Baker and Rosa Pearl (Warman) Baker at home on the Baker farm in the country near Noonan, N.D. She attended a one-room school through the 8th grade. She graduated from Crosby High School in 1949.

She worked as a waitress at the Crystal and Star Cafes in Crosby. She also worked at a dry-cleaning business in Williston, N.D. She met Bernard (Bob) Bjorgen while working at the Crystal Cafe.

Bob and Pearl were married June 10, 1951. They lived and farmed in the northwest corner of North Dakota near the Montana and Canadian borders until the fall of 1957 when they moved to the Flathead Valley in Montana. They farmed near Pablo, owning and operating a Grade A dairy farm until 1972.

After selling the dairy farm, Bob bought property at the foot of the Mission range east of Pablo and built a house. They remained there until 2001 when they moved to Spokane to be near their daughters.

After selling the farm Bob began building and remodeling homes. Pearl worked hard her whole life helping Bob with farming and his carpentry business.

Their son, Landis, was born in August of 1952 and their daughter, Gail, in December 1954, both in Williston, N.D. In 1953, Pearl had a daughter who died shortly after birth. Two more daughters joined the family: Colleen in May 1959 and Virginia (Ginger) in August 1960 in Polson.

Pearl made her choice to serve God on May 18, 1980, and remained faithful to that choice to the end. One of her requests was that there would be several hymns sung at her funeral, as they were very precious and encouraging to her.

Pearl always had a large garden where she grew vegetables and flowers. Summertime meals on the table often had several vegetables from her garden. She loved taking some of her flowers as gifts to anyone who was sick, for birthdays and often just because she wanted to share the joy of her flowers.

The dairy farm had an orchard of fruit trees with many varieties of apples, cherries and plums.  She did a lot of canning and freezing of fruits and vegetables. She was a wonderful cook. Some of you may remember the famous buns that she made. There was never a meal served that didn’t include some of those buns.

Pearl also loved to keep in touch with handwritten cards and letters. When Bob and Pearl went shopping if he couldn’t locate her, the first place to look was the greeting-card aisle – he was sure to find her there.

Pearl was preceded in death by husband Bob, parents, nine siblings and their spouses and one daughter. She is survived by children Landis, Gail (Dale), Colleen (Stan) and Ginger, nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Also surviving, Bob McKean who spent summers and weekends working on the farm. In 1970 his mother and grandmother were killed in a car-train accident. After that, Bob and Pearl became his legal guardians and he has remained part of the family.

A visitation for Pearl will be held Friday, July 19, from 5-8 p.m., and all are welcome to participate in the singing of hymns in the chapel from 7:30-8 p.m. at Ball and Dodd Funeral Home, 5100 West Wellesley Ave., Spokane, Wash. A secondary opportunity for a visitation will occur Saturday, July 20, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and the funeral service will follow at 11 a.m.

A graveside service will follow Saturday, July 20, at 12:30 p.m. at Fairmont Park, 5200 West Wellesley Ave. in Spokane.