Arthur Edward Pederson was born on December 18, 1941 to parents Senvig Marvin Pederson and Inga Marie (Olsen) Pederson in a house in Leeds, North Dakota.   He died at the age of 76 on Monday, April 2, 2018 at the Trinity Medical Center in Minot, North Dakota.

Art was raised on his parent’s farm south of Knox, North Dakota and attended school in a one room country school in Pleasant Lake Township.  Before his graduation from Knox High School, he had joined the ND National Guard and left for basic training following his graduation in 1959.  After completing his training, he returned home to work for Benson County.  He was activated to the U.S. Army in 1961 during the Cuban Crisis and was honorably discharged in 1962.  He returned to the Army Reserve and served until 1967. He then attended Hanson Auto Mechanics in Fargo and did various jobs until moving to Washington State and working for Boeing.  On March 22, 1969, he was united in marriage to Sharon Luree Hanson in Longview, Washington.  The couple moved back to North Dakota where he took a truck driving job with Purina Foods.  Other jobs while living in North Dakota during the years of 1969 – 1980 included a city maintenance manager in Fairmont, a Deputy Sheriff for Ransom County, in Lisbon, a heavy equipment operator in Beulah, a semi driver in Fargo, and a military security officer at the Fargo Air Base.  The couple and family moved to Washington State again in 1980 seeking treatment for their oldest son, Bryan’s Lymphocytic Leukemia, a disease he was diagnosed with at 3 months of age.  He lost his battle with cancer November 2, 1983. Art went to work as a welder at Diamond M Farms in Monroe, WA until a work accident with high voltage electricity disabled him in this field of work.  Never being a quitter, Art enrolled in a 2-year Mechanical Drafting program at Edmonds Community College and earned his certification in this new line of work.  Later the family returned to North Dakota where they purchased a home in York.  After retiring because of heart disease, he served on the York Town Council and mowed the city’s vacant lots until the Fall of 2017.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon; one son, Kelly (Becky); 4 grandchildren; one brother, Leonard (Bev); one aunt; other relatives and friends.  He was preceded in death by his son, Bryan; sister, Alice Pederson; brothers, Alton and David; and his parents. 

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 14^th in the Anderson Funeral Home, Rugby with late spring burial in the Union Cemetery, Knox.  There will be no reviewal.  Reverend Mike Pretzer, officiate.  A lite luncheon is planned to follow the service in the Memorial Hall in Rugby.

Military Honors will be accorded by the North Dakota Funeral Honors Detail.