Services for Muriel I. (Pederson) Rice
Mon, 09/30/2024 - 12:11pm
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Muriel I. (Pederson) Rice of Arlington, Va., died at her home on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, after a lengthy illness. She was 86 years old.
The granddaughter of Norwegian immigrants, Muriel was born March 29, 1938 in Polk County, Minn., to Minnie I. (Haugen) and Myron E. Pederson. She grew up in McIntosh, Minn., where she belonged to the Girl Scouts, played the clarinet, and served as drum major in the marching band. Known as “Petey,” she graduated from high school in 1956. She paid her way through a year of Bemidji State Teachers College before moving to Minneapolis and then Detroit. She returned to Minneapolis in 1962, where she worked as a receptionist.
In 1964, Muriel married John D. Rice in Minneapolis; they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in July of this year. A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, Muriel was known for her steel-trap memory, quick wit, night-owl habits, beautiful handwriting, and appreciation for her Norwegian heritage (97%, according to her Ancestry.com DNA test). She loved visiting family on the East Coast and West Coast, shopping at the former Dayton’s in downtown Minneapolis, baking chocolate chip cookies, making foil dinners on the grill in the summer, enjoying the sunshine, and reading seemingly every word of the newspaper daily. She was loved by family and friends and will be missed.
Muriel is survived by her husband John, of Arlington, Va., daughters Alison Rice (Joe Malin) of Arlington, Va., and Erica Rice (Jay Mazalewski) of Driggs, Idaho; grandchildren Finch and Charlotte Malin of Arlington, Va.; and siblings Carole (Carl) Ryken of Sun Lakes, Ariz., Betty Ferguson of White Bear Lake, Minn., and James (Pam) Pederson of Wellington, Colo.
A memorial service for Muriel will be held Friday, Oct. 18 at noon at Mindekirken Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church at 924 East 21st St., Minneapolis, with visitation at 11 a.m.
Memorial donations may be sent to Mindekirken Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church (mindekirken.org) in Minneapolis, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum (vesterheim.org) in Decorah, Iowa; or the McIntosh Heritage and Arts Center in McIntosh.