Kathleen (Peg) Deal, 70,
of River Falls, died Monday at St. Johns Hospital in Maplewood,
Minn. She and her husband Harry (Duke), owned and operated
Pearson’s Florists on Elm Street in River Falls for
some 50 years.
Peg learned early in her
marriage that life with her husband would be all about
flowers after he was offered a job at Pearson Florists
in 1955 for $48 a week, the couple told a Journal reporter
in 2005.
A few years later the couple bought Pearson’s Florists
and Peg’s reputation for creating beautiful wedding
flowers was born.
Her main involvement in the business started
because of her husband’s frustration with a wedding arrangement. “Oh
give me that,” she said, and a 50-year stay-at-home
career began.
Peg became known for her customer service, her
listening ear and a knack for making people comfortable.
Area brides and their mothers would stand in line for her
special flair for arranging flowers.
Amid the business and
raising four children, she was a passionate cook. She became
known to neighborhood kids as “Mom Deal.” Everyone’s
second mother always welcomed visitors to share the family
dinner table.
While celebrating 52 years of marriage recently,
the Deals reminisced about how every holiday seemed to be
wrapped up in the family business, creating floral arrangements
for other people’s special occasions.
Visitation will
be held 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, at Cashman-Hill Funeral
Home.
Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct.
26, at the United Methodist Church.
A complete obituary
for Deal will appear in next week’s
Journal.
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