Earl Winton Pearson, Thief River Falls, MN, passed away on Saturday, July 6, 2013 at the Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND, at the age of 92. A family memorial service will be held at a later date with interment at the Kennedy Cemetery, Kennedy, MN. Earl, the son of Peter and Ellen (Stamnes) Pearson, was born December 10, 1920, in Warren, MN. The family moved to Kennedy, MN in 1925. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. Earl attended, and graduated from, Kennedy High School in 1938. He apprenticed at the Kennedy Star weekly newspaper for three years and went on to learn the printing trade at the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis. While living in Minneapolis he also attended an art school. Earl was drafted into the US Army in 1943. He was an MP during his service, and guarded German prisoners-of-war at a camp in Louisiana. He received an Honorable Discharge in 1946. In order to further his education, Earl attended and graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, then transferring to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, where he graduated cum laude. He was then accepted into Yale University's Divinity School, where he attended for a time. The printing trade drew him back in and remained his profession for the rest of his working career. He worked at major newspapers across the country; Chicago, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and in Indiana, Utah and North Dakota. Wherever he lived he absorbed the history of the area and served as a learned tour guide for visiting relatives. Earl was an accomplished artist and leaves behind many oil paintings for his family to enjoy. Earl retired in 1983 and in the ensuing years was able to take a number of trips to Europe, several with tour guides and several on his own just to go to the tennis tournaments at Wimbledon and stage plays in London. Earl had taught himself Spanish at one time, before taking a trip to Mexico, and from all appearances, was learning French on his computer at the time of his death. Earl was preceded in death by his parents and four sisters; Edythe Johnson, Warroad, MN; Lorraine Shield, Bremerton, WA; and Phyllis Olson of Lake Bronson, MN. He is survived by one sister, Dona Runnels, Warroad, MN, and his many loving nieces and nephews: Dick Johnson, Warroad, MN; Sharon Forsmann, Linda Jones, Susan Uggen, Cindy Drydale and Mary Zinter, all of Bremerton, WA; Patricia Lee, Battle Lake, MN; Rebecca Bothum, Fargo, ND; Mitchell Olson, Lake Bronson, MN; Shawn Runnels, Roseau, MN, Chris Runnels, Warroad, MN, and Jason Runnels of Poyen, AR.