Clarence Pearson, 75, a retired manager of cost accounting with International Harvester for 31 years, died of colon cancer Wednesday, Feb. 20, in his Wheaton home. Mr. Pearson was born in Minnesota in 1926. His family moved to Bensenville when he was 6. Mr. Pearson enlisted in the Army Air Forces after his high school graduation. He was training to be a gunner in a B-24 when, on his last training flight, the plane crashed, leaving him and another man the only survivors of a 10-man crew. He spent nine months in the hospital. He received a degree in commercial science in 1950 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. That same year, he married Mae Peters. The couple settled in Elmhurst in 1954 and raised three children. In 1961 the family joined Bethel United Church of Christ, which became a focal point of Mr. Pearson’s life. There he taught Sunday school, handled some of the church’s financial matters and was a choir member, said his son John. After his retirement, Mr. Pearson became a regular volunteer at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. “He spent so much time in the hospital after his accident in the Army and he was served well by people in hospitals that he just wanted to give back,” said his son. “Surviving that plane crash when he was a teenager made him always feel as if life was a gift.” Mr. Pearson is also survived by two daughters, Janet Devlin and Amy Maloney; two sisters, Ina Kurz and Vera Brazeau; and a grandchild. A visitation will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday in Bethel United Church of Christ, 315 E. St. Charles Rd., Elmhurst, followed by a service at 3 p.m.
