Glenda Pehrson

Mrs. Glenda C. Pehrson, 87, passed away peacefully March 20 at her home after a lengthy battle with leukemia. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dr. Nils C. Pehrson in 1979. Glenda Cooper Pehrson was born April 13, 1925 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to Lois Marie Shelton Cooper and William Marion Cooper. She had two brothers, Billy Marion Cooper and Vernon Kelley Cooper, who preceded her in death. She graduated from University of Arkansas with a B.S. where she met her future husband and then moved to Little Rock. She attended UAMS, earned her Masters of Science in microbiology. She taught microbiology at UAMS and enjoyed her years as a researcher. She married Nils Christian Christopher Pehrson of Askim, Norway June 5, 1948 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas at First Baptist Church. They honeymooned that summer in Norway meeting the Pehrson relatives. After Nils graduated medical school, he joined the US Army. They spent time in Washington state and then moved to Metz, France for a few years to complete his Army service. They had many fun adventures traveling around Europe and returning to Norway for visits. Glenda enjoyed recounting their many adventures living in Europe. After a year each in Perryville, Arkansas and Town Creek, Alabama, they returned to Little Rock in 1958 where Nils pursued a residency in Pathology. He completed this residency at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone in 1962. Panama offered many adventures to the Pehrson family including a drive home to Arkansas via the Pan American Highway through several Central American countries. They settled in Little Rock where Nils established private practice in Pathology. Glenda and Nils had three daughters, Sandra, Pamela and Susan Kelly. Glenda was a fulltime mother mentoring her daughters. She enjoyed cooking with Julia Child, was a voracious reader and played the guitar. She loved poetry and enjoyed singing popular and folk songs. She loved opera; Carmen was her favorite. She developed an interest in value investing and read the Wall Street Journal daily. Her keen intellect found the challenge of investing rewarding and she had much success. She was a student of life and never stopped learning new things. She loved traveling and spent most summers for forty years on Dog Island, Florida at her beloved cabin on the gulf coast. She was very proud of the Natural State especially the Buffalo National River, where the family often camped and floated the river with family friends. She took the extended family on two monumental trips to tour Norway in 1999 and then the Galapagos Islands in 2004. Her appetite for travel took her many places but Arkansas was always her home and she never wanted to move. She is survived by her three daughters, Sandra Pehrson Kittinger of Wilmington, NC and husband, Joseph, Pamela Pehrson Schaffer of Carrabelle, FL and Susan Kelly Pehrson of Birmingham, AL. She also is survived by a nephew, Vernon Kelley Cooper, Jr. and niece, Catherine Cooper Coker and husband David Coker of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas with two great nephews, Andrew and William. She has seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren: John Nils Kittinger and wife Daniela, of Monterey, California, with sons Joseph Kainoa and James Costa; Allison Louise Schaffer de Perez and husband Julian Perez, of Galapagos Islands, Ecuador with daughter, Annika Pamela; Brooke Kittinger Weinberger and husband, Cyrus, of Lafayette, Colorado with sons Maxwell Benjamin and William Alexander; Benjamin Joseph Kittinger and wife, Katie, of Temple, Texas with daughter Airlie Anne; Glenda Kelly Rankin and husband, Phillip, of Troy, Ohio with children Autumn Brenee and Elijah Bruce; Valerie Christine Olienyk of Birmingham, Alabama, and Julia Marie Olienyk of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Glenda also leaves behind her best friend, Mrs. Eloise Boon, of Huntsville, Alabama. Their friendship spanned 70 years and they shared many happy times and travel adventures. Glenda’s Memorial Service and Celebration of Life will be held Saturday April 6, 2013 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock at 1818 Reservoir Road at 3 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made to The Ozark Society, The Salvation Army or the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock. The family also extends a special thanks to Dr. Susan Santa Cruz for her many years of care for Glenda. We also thank Dr. Joseph Beck and Dr. Larry Mendelsohn, both of whom helped her fight a valiant three year battle. We especially appreciate all of the help of our lifelong family friend, Mr. John Blakney. We thank Jana Leigh who cared for Glenda in her last year. We send extra special thanks to three women who gave Glenda the tender loving care and dignity she needed in her last days. Janie, Cleora and Freddie, you are truly angels on earth. We are so blessed to have had you all in our mother’s life.

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