Celebrating LW Centenarians—Pearl Anderson

This is one story in an occasional series profiling some of LW’s most long-lived residents, those who have reached the enviable age of 100 years or more. The series is running in connection with the Golden Age Foundation centenarian event held April 20. In most cases, a family member or friend has written the stories.

by Nancy Miller

special to the LW Weekly

Pearl Anderson was born on Aug. 18, 1922, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She lived in the house her dad had built until she got married. Bancroft Elementary School was just across the street so she didn’t have far to go to school. She grew up in the house with her six brothers and three sisters. Her older sister, Hazel, died when she was three months old due to pneumonia, so Pearl never really knew her. Pearl was the second to the youngest of the family and is the only one left. The rest died in their 80s due to heart failure. Her younger sister, Eleanor, died in her 50s of breast cancer, and her older brother Floyd died in his 20s in a construction accident.

Pearl remembers riding a tricycle down a hill, and her dad calling her his little princess. She remembers going with her siblings to the store across the street to buy treats and just saying “put it on my dad’s tab,” as the store owner owed her dad money and that is how he got paid back.

Her childhood was marked by loss. At 50, her dad died of heart failure when Pearl was 8 years old. She also remembers her brother Paul accidentally stepping on her cat when walking out the door and killing it.

Pearl played the cello as a young student and remembers luggging the ungainly instrument when she walked to school. She attended a vocational high school where she took business courses and bookkeeping, and became a comptometer operator. A comptometer is a mechanical calculator that was like using a keyboard on a computer. She got a job at Sterling Electric in Minneapolis.

In June 1944, she met her husband, Harlan, through her Sunday school teacher, Marie. Harlan had come home to visit his family in Minneapolis before he was inducted into the army at Fort Snelling near Minneapolis. Marie arranged for them to go to a Youth for Christ Meeting on a Saturday, but Harlan was being transferred to Camp Fannim, Texas, so he could not be there. He called Pearl and asked if he could write her, and Pearl agreed. That is how it all started.

When he was done with basic training, he came home on furlough at Thanksgiving. Their first date was for lunch at Nankin, a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis.

Marie told Pearl she was going to visit Harlan’s parents and relatives home in Wolverton, Minnesota, and asked if Pearl wanted to go with her. They took the train to Wolverton, and Harlan and his cousin, Carrold, were there to meet them.

Carrold took Marie to his home, and Harlan took Pearl to his parents’ home. They had Thanksgiving together with all the relatives. After Thanksgiving, he left for overseas.

On Pearl’s 24th birthday, Aug. 18, 1946, they got engaged and had a party with all the relatives. Harlan’s uncle married the couple on June 21, 1947, at Elim Covenant Church in Minneapolis.

After they were married for a couple of years, they took a trip to California to see if Harlan could get a job at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach. (He had been working there before he got drafted into the army.)

Pearl agreed to move if he landed it. The company hired him, and the couple had 10 days to make the move. Pearl quit her job at Sterling Electric, and the couple packed up and drove from Minneapolis. They rented an apartment in Lynwood, choosing the city for its central location between the Los Angeles Free Church and Harlan’s work.

A year later, Harlan’s uncle, who was a contractor, helped the couple build a home in Lynwood, where they lived for 68 years. Harlan passed away in 2016, and Pearl moved to Leisure World in 2018.

In October 1953, the couple had a daughter Nancy and then a son Mark, in January 1956.

Pearl has four grandchildren— Erin, Cathy, Clara and Mathew—and two great-granddaughters, Nora, 3; and Wynifred Jane, born on Feb. 15.

She enjoys traveling. She and Harlan took a memorable cruise to Mexico and visited Hawaii. As a family, they made many summer road trips back and forth to Minnesota and North Dakota. They had a trailer on the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. The family enjoyed water skiing. Harlan skiied until he was 88 years old and Pearl, until she was 94.

She even rode a horse on her 98th birthday. But on her 99th birthday, she had a mild case of COVID-19 that curtailed energetic pursuits.

Pearl now enjoys playing the piano, singing, reading, baking chocolate chip cookies, sewing, and taking one-hour walks. She never drove a car, so she depended on Harlan to take her everywhere.

She is now involved with the Leisure World Baptist Church that meets in Clubhouse 4 on Sundays and Clubhouse 3 on Wednesdays for Energizers (a bible study). She plays the piano for the Bible study and likes to sing in the choir on Sunday. She also enjoys going out to eat afterward.

To celebrate Pearl’s 100th birthday, she will be in the Minneapolis area with her relatives.

She is also planning to have a get-together with her LW Baptist Church friends and family.

Pearl says that the Lord has been with her for the past 100 years and has given her a manifold of blessings for which she is very grateful.

She loves God, prays to him every day, knows he takes care of her and saved her. Pearl is ready for heaven and is enjoying every day on earth.