DIAN M. PEARSE, 78, of Aurelia, Iowa and formerly of Cherokee, passed away Tuesday evening, December 6, 2016 in the Sunset Knoll Care & Rehab Center in Aurelia, Iowa, following a ten year battle with Alzheimer's.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 12th, at 10:30 a.m. at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in rural, Cherokee, Iowa. Rev. Jeff Harris will officiate. Burial will be in the Quimby Cemetery at Quimby, Iowa. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Monday. Visitation will be on Sunday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. with the family present from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

Dian was born on May 15, 1938 at Cherokee, Iowa to Ellsworth & Eva Belle (Spensley) Grove. She attended Cherokee Schools, graduating in 1958. She was married to Dave Pearse on May 11, 1958 at the Grace Baptist Church in Cherokee, Iowa. The couple moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, as Dave was in the service and she worked for a Fabric Shop from 1959 until 1963, when they moved back to Cherokee. While living in Cherokee, she worked for a Fabric Shop and for the Cherokee Community Schools Food Service program for 29 years, retiring in December of 2001. During her retirement, she and Dave participated in many memorable trips across the United States with the Central Bank Emerald Club. Dian enjoyed sewing, crafts, church work, volunteering at the nursing homes, and spending time with her family. She was a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church and the Iowa Retired School Personnel Association. She had been a resident of Aurelia the past 21 years, prior to this in Cherokee, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings and their spouses, Natalie and Charles Smith, Ellsworth and LaVonne Swisher, Romaine and Glen Anderson.

She is survived by her husband Dave Pearse of Aurelia, Iowa; four children: Brenda Pearse of Denver, Colorado; Bryan (Dawna) Pearse of Moville, Iowa; John (Susane) Pearse of Prattville, Alabama; Judy (Scott) Kruse of Hoffman Estates, Illinois; 8 grandchildren: Sean, Chad and Ashley Pearse; Ian and Michaela Pearse; Jordan, Chase, and Riley Kruse; a sister-in-law Claire Pearse of Chicago, Illinois.