Pearson leaves legacy of spirit, generosity
By Russ Oechslin, Journal Correspondent | Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Bud Pearson and his wife, Bev, discuss the collection of Russian and Soviet impressionist art they are donating to the Lakes Art Center last July. The art center was later renamed the Pearson Lakes Art Center. (Photo by Russ Oechslin)
OKOBOJI, Iowa -- Bud Pearson had a great spirit, retired banker and former Lakes Art Center board chairman John Goodenow said Tuesday.
Pearson, 82, died Monday at Lakes Regional Healthcare Center. He had suffered for years from primary lateral sclerosis, which is similar to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Visitation will take place after 11 a.m. Friday at the Warner Funeral Home in Spencer, Iowa, with the family present from 5-7 p.m.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, at the Good News Community Church in Okoboji, with burial at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer.
Goodenow met Pearson when he was a banker in Wall Lake, Iowa, helping to finance a cattle feeding operation Pearson was involved with in Clay County more than 40 years ago.
In recent years it was Pearson who recruited Goodenow's participation in the art center that was named for the retired meat packer and philanthropist. Pearson donated millions of dollars not only to the art center in Okoboji but to other area projects as well.
The Pearson Lakes Art Center dedicated its $1 million Pearson Gallery visual arts wing, building and a gifted collection as a part of the University of Okoboji Winter Games XXVIII in January.
The wing was a gift from the Pearson family to house its gift of a $1 million collection of Soviet and Russian Impressionist art, now on permanent display there.
"Bud's philosophy was that charitable giving was 'something you have to catch,' and once you get it you get a great feeling about what you've done," Goodenow said. "I wasn't infected until I met Bud. He made a difference about how my wife and I feel about our community."
"Bud's passing brings a sad day for so many friends, family and individuals in Northwest Iowa," said Tom Tourville, the art center's executive director. "Bud touched the lives of so many people in how he did things in giving of himself and his entire family."
Pearson's son Steve echoed Tourville's thoughts, noting he was most impressed by the number of friends his father had "because he refused to see the bad side of people."
"On our last golf trip to the sand hills of Nebraska four years ago -- and you know golf was his passion -- we had time to sit and reminisce about his good fortune at Spencer Foods (the meat packing plant he founded in 1952 and sold to Land O'Lakes in 1979)." Steve Pearson said.
"All his recollections were positive. And when I asked him if there wasn't even one person he recalled negatively, he just scratched his head and thought a few seconds before telling me with a chuckle, 'Yeah, but I don't remember his name.'"
Pearson and his family owned Brook's Golf Course at Okoboji until 2006, when he sold it to a Des Moines-based group of friends.
Pearson became interested in collecting art when his wife, Bev, took him on tours of museums and galleries in Europe. The couple planned to build an art gallery near their winter home in Arizona but offered instead to contribute $300,000 to erect a new facility in Okoboji to replace the "little red schoolhouse" that was the Art Center's home for decades, if the money could be matched with other contributions.
Former Congressman Berkley Bedell took Pearson up on his challenge and raised the funds "in about a week," Bedell said Tuesday.
"And the new art center has been a tremendous asset to the Okoboji community, with hundreds of events involving thousands of visitors each year, because of the Pearsons' generosity," Bedell said.
Pearson, 82, died Monday at Lakes Regional Healthcare Center. He had suffered for years from primary lateral sclerosis, which is similar to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Visitation will take place after 11 a.m. Friday at the Warner Funeral Home in Spencer, Iowa, with the family present from 5-7 p.m.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, at the Good News Community Church in Okoboji, with burial at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer.
Goodenow met Pearson when he was a banker in Wall Lake, Iowa, helping to finance a cattle feeding operation Pearson was involved with in Clay County more than 40 years ago.
In recent years it was Pearson who recruited Goodenow's participation in the art center that was named for the retired meat packer and philanthropist. Pearson donated millions of dollars not only to the art center in Okoboji but to other area projects as well.
The Pearson Lakes Art Center dedicated its $1 million Pearson Gallery visual arts wing, building and a gifted collection as a part of the University of Okoboji Winter Games XXVIII in January.
The wing was a gift from the Pearson family to house its gift of a $1 million collection of Soviet and Russian Impressionist art, now on permanent display there.
"Bud's philosophy was that charitable giving was 'something you have to catch,' and once you get it you get a great feeling about what you've done," Goodenow said. "I wasn't infected until I met Bud. He made a difference about how my wife and I feel about our community."
"Bud's passing brings a sad day for so many friends, family and individuals in Northwest Iowa," said Tom Tourville, the art center's executive director. "Bud touched the lives of so many people in how he did things in giving of himself and his entire family."
Pearson's son Steve echoed Tourville's thoughts, noting he was most impressed by the number of friends his father had "because he refused to see the bad side of people."
"On our last golf trip to the sand hills of Nebraska four years ago -- and you know golf was his passion -- we had time to sit and reminisce about his good fortune at Spencer Foods (the meat packing plant he founded in 1952 and sold to Land O'Lakes in 1979)." Steve Pearson said.
"All his recollections were positive. And when I asked him if there wasn't even one person he recalled negatively, he just scratched his head and thought a few seconds before telling me with a chuckle, 'Yeah, but I don't remember his name.'"
Pearson and his family owned Brook's Golf Course at Okoboji until 2006, when he sold it to a Des Moines-based group of friends.
Pearson became interested in collecting art when his wife, Bev, took him on tours of museums and galleries in Europe. The couple planned to build an art gallery near their winter home in Arizona but offered instead to contribute $300,000 to erect a new facility in Okoboji to replace the "little red schoolhouse" that was the Art Center's home for decades, if the money could be matched with other contributions.
Former Congressman Berkley Bedell took Pearson up on his challenge and raised the funds "in about a week," Bedell said Tuesday.
"And the new art center has been a tremendous asset to the Okoboji community, with hundreds of events involving thousands of visitors each year, because of the Pearsons' generosity," Bedell said.
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