Funeral services were at 10:30 AM Saturday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Buffalo Center, with Pastor Perry Aalgaard. Burial was at Graceland Cemetery, Buffalo Center.
Visitation was 5 to 7:00 PM Friday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and 1 hour before the service on Saturday.
Dean Douglas Pilgrim was born on a farm near Edgewood, Iowa on May 27, 1930 to LeRoy and Ottilia (Kamoss) Pilgrim. He was raised on a farm near Manchester, Iowa with his two older brothers, George and Robert, and sister Lois. Dean attended school at Oneida, Iowa graduating in 1948. He attended Wartburg College in Waverly and received his B.A. in 1952. His college years were significant for Dean and he always kept a special love in his heart for Wartburg. He went on to Colorado State College in Greeley, for one year of graduate study and in the fall of 1953 began his teaching career in Buffalo Center. Dean completed 47 years of teaching in Buffalo Center before retiring in 2000. Dean was a schoolmaster through and through, caring for not only the subject matter, but also the character and work ethic of his students. Dean received his Master’s Degree from Mankato State University in 1971.
During the summers Dean was always busy. He was a painter with the Landheer Painting Crew for many years, and then painted with his sons as Pilgrim Painting and Refinishing. Dean did a lot of yard work mowing, thatching, and trimming, and did snow blowing for friends and neighbors, always taking pride in his work. He was living at Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center at the time of his passing on October 14, 2009 from complications of ALS.
Dean married Navonne M. Thompson of Elmore, Minnesota on July 31, 1955 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blue Earth, Minnesota. God blessed this marriage with four sons: Douglas, Thomas, Steven and Jonathan. Dean was an active member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Buffalo Center, serving in many positions through the years.
Family who will treasure his memory are his wife Navonne and their sons and families: Douglas and Jan Loft Pilgrim of Marshall, MN; Thomas and Sheila Pilgrim of Forest City, IA; Steven Pilgrim of Lakeville, MN; Jonathan and Kimmerle Pilgrim of League City, TX. Grandchildren Kelly Robert (Kari) Loft, Marshall, MN; Jacob and Rebecca Pilgrim, Forest City; Rachael and Michael Pilgrim, Lakeville, MN; Benjamin and Jesse Pilgrim, League City, TX; Great-grandchildren: Dillion and Regan Loft, Marshall, MN; Also surviving are brothers George (GlennaRae) Pilgrim of Kingsville, TX; Robert (Vivian) Pilgrim, Manchester; brother-in-law Ted Frame of Coalinga, CA; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Joyce Landheer, Buffalo Center; Darlene and Nyle Huston, Janice and Jerry Sonich and Allan and Nancy Thompson all of Blue Earth, MN, Richard Zuehlke of Lafayette, MN and Rosemary (Thompson) and Pat Hardy of Rock Island, IL, many nieces, nephews and friends.
Preceding him in death were his parents, parents-in-law, sister Lois Frame, sisters-in-law Carol Pilgrim and Donna Pilgrim, brothers-in-law Robert Thompson and Alvin Landheer and sister-in-law Janet Zuehlke.
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