Obituary of Mary A. Pearson

Mary Bates Pearson, 96, of Brewer Maine passed on to her heavenly home and the presence of Jesus on June 15, 2024. Mary was born in Rome N.Y. on July 23, 1927.

She was valedictorian at Wheaton Academy and was graduated from Wheaton College (both in Illinois) with a degree in Christian Education in 1949. She met her husband, the late Nathaniel Pearson, at Wheaton, and their relationship grew through summers at Camp Peniel in NY State. She moved to Maine in 1953 with her husband, who pastored several churches over a period of 40 years. She was an active partner in his ministry, using her teaching and organizational gifts, alongside raising six children. In later years she worked as a teacher and a nanny/household

helper. Mary’s greatest wish was for each and everyone she met to know and love Jesus. She was bold to share her faith with anyone who would listen (and some who would not!) and asked countless people to read the Bible with her wherever she lived. She was a woman of prayer, using her sharp mind to learn about the world and praying for and supporting missions on several continents. She used email in addition to traditional means to keep in touch with relatives and treasured friends from Peniel and from churches where she and Nat had served. (She never could quite figure out Facebook.) Despite increasingly poor hearing, she continued to attend her church in Brewer and her beloved Orrington Women’s Bible Study.

Mary was predeceased by her daughter Margaret Swartz. She leaves behind her other five children: Ted and Joni Pearson of Winterport and children Ted Jr and wife Sarah, Caleb and Matt; Alice and Dan Peterson of Westbrook and children Hannah and Than; Dan and Sonya Pearson of Corinth N.Y. and children Nate and John; Tim and Wendy Pearson of Holden and children Seth and wife Gabe, Courtney and Trevor; Peter and Erika Pearson of Newborn GA and children Joah, True, Canon, Laurel, Emma, Sol, Ash, Maisie, Nori and Phin. She has three great grandchildren Elaine, Grant and Eden and several generations of nieces and nephews. The family is grateful for the loving care provided by the staffs of the Phillips-Strickland Home, Brewer Rehab, the Burr Home and St. Joseph’s Hospital, as well as the attention of many friends old and new.

A Memorial Service will be held 2 PM Sunday, July 14, 2024 at Second Congregational Church, 607 South Main Street, Brewer, Maine.  In lieu of flowers, Mary’s family suggests that memorial gifts may be made to:  https://biblicalministries.org/missionary/David-and-Lena_Philbrick