Family and Friends to Gather April 10 to Celebrate Life and Legacy of Reach Beyond President's Wife
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 7, 2014 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) remembers Norma Pederson, who passed away Thursday, April 3, after a year-long battle with cancer, as a "godly and good person."
Photo: Norma and Wayne Pederson
Pederson, who is the wife of Reach Beyond President and CEO Wayne Pederson, died in home hospice care in Colorado Springs, Colo. She was 65 years old.
"She passed peacefully with family around her quoting great resurrection scriptures," Wayne said of his high school sweetheart. "We're happy for Norma, sad for us. There is no way to thank you all for your love, support and prayers during this time. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives."
Norma is survived by Wayne, the couple's two daughters and nine grandchildren. The Pedersons were married for more than 45 years.
"Norma Pederson was the kind of godly and good person that everyone wants for a friend," said Anderson. "Count her friends in the thousands across America and around the globe. She lived her Christian faith with excitement and consistency. We celebrate her life and love and miss her already."
Bruce Everhart, vice president of donor development and channel strategy at Moody Bible Institute, was encouraged by Norma's unwavering support of Wayne and her leadership.
"I cannot think of a more honest, joyful, caring and thoughtful person than Norma Pederson," he said. "Her abiding support of her husband was a model for so many in our work. Her leadership to other women was exemplary. She was a true friend, always seeming to know the right thing to say to encourage and comfort."
Friends and ministry supporters are invited to celebrate Pederson's life on Thursday, April 10, at Calvary Church in Roseville, Minn. Visitation begins at 12:30 p.m., and the service will follow at 2:00 p.m.
Calvary Church is located at 2120 North Lexington Avenue in Roseville, a suburb of St. Paul.
A memorial service will also be held in Colorado Springs on Saturday, May 10, at which Wayne will attend.
Jim Gordon, chairman of the Reach Beyond board, asked that friends of the family and the ministry remember the Pedersons and their family in prayer at this time.
Norma was born in Crookston, Minn., in 1948, a small town in the northwest corner of the state. She attended the Association Free Lutheran Bible School in Minneapolis after high school and also nursing school in Fergus Falls, Minn., where she graduated as a LPN in 1968, the same year the couple married.
She was a nurse by trade and worked the OB-GYN at North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis and also as a receptionist at Shoreview Family Physicians in Shoreview, Minn., while Wayne worked in the Twin Cities.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2013, Norma underwent extensive surgery and four months of chemotherapy. While it appeared that Norma had made a remarkable recovery, the cancer returned in March of this year and ultimately took her life.
For 82 years the passion of Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global) (www.reachbeyond.org) has been to make disciples of Christ. Using mass media, healthcare and education and working with partners around the world, Reach Beyond has ministries in more than 100 countries. The gospel is aired in more than 120 languages and dialects. Thousands of healthcare patients are meeting Jesus. Local believers are being trained as missionaries, pastors, broadcasters and healthcare providers.
Wayne Pederson will not be available for further comment at this time. Please direct all inquiries to Steve Johnson at
sjohnson@reachbeyond.org or 719-388-2281.
