Pearle Harrington
d. January 22, 2015
Pearle Harrington, Logansport, passed away Thursday, January 22, 2015, after a lifetime of love and support for her children, her music, her piano, and her friends. She was the eighth of nine children born to William and Henrietta Lochmann in Collinsville, Illinois. Siblings, Bertha, Esther, Clara, LaRue, Marvin, Herbert, and William preceded her in death. She is survived by her youngest brother, Roger, in Collinsville.
Pearle graduated from St. Luke's Nursing School in St. Louis, where she met and in 1945 married Jim Harrington, M.D. Jim died in 1968, and Pearle raised and educated their six children; twins Joan and Jean (Rick Naegel), twins Mary and Jim (Carolyn), Alice (Tom Ludwig), and Michael (Missy). She has seven grandchildren, Patrick (Jessica) and Kevin (Julianna) Ludwig, Connor and Matthew Harrington, and Michael Trent, Allix, and Joseph Harrington. She has three great-grandchildren; Margot and Cecily Ludwig and Pearle Ludwig.
Pearle was an avid Notre Dame fan and played the "little old lady" card outside the stadium to get into the games without a ticket. The "ND Victory March" was a standard on her piano repertoire and melded seamlessly into "Roll Out the Barrel", "Meet Me in St. Louis", "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore", "Oh What a Beautiful Morning", and "Good Night Sweetheart".
Pearle worked as a nurse until age 70 and spent time after retirement taking care of the family home, visiting with children and grandchildren, and tending her ever-increasing garden. She had a great group of friends, played euchre, sent letters off to her children weekly, and enjoyed taking walks on Logansport's rails-to-trails. She will be loved and respected for being strong, stubborn, and private, and for her love of family. Her German-Luthern roots strengthened her Irish-Catholic spirit.
A private memorial service will be held at the Grotto at Notre Dame "Das ist alles". Contributions in her memory may be made to All Saints Catholic Church in Logansport, or the Logansport Parks Department for the support of Rails-to-Trails walking paths.