Roger Arnold Pierson

Roger Arnold Pierson, age 74 of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota passed away on August 15, 2026, following a short battle with cancer in Fargo, North Dakota, surrounded by family.

Roger was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota to Helen Smestad and Arthur Pierson on October 25, 1951. Roger went to high school at Fordville High School and graduated in 1970. Roger had a total of 10 classmates in his high school graduation. Roger went on to work at Granite Works in 1974 until 1979.

In 1979, Roger went to work for the City of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota as a maintenance employee and worked for the City of Detroit Lakes until his retirement in 2016. Roger happily chose retirement over telephone calls to come to work at all wee hours of the night/morning in the unforgiving and relentless work of a city employee plowing snow in Minnesota…

In 1977, Roger married the love of his life, Sam, and they lived in Detroit Lakes until Sam’s passing in 2019 and enjoyed 42 years together.

As you all know, Roger was a great man and always stayed calm and unruffled when things went wrong and instead of reacting out of anger, he paused, listened and found reliable and gentle responses. Roger was always a quiet strength and a steady presence to all who knew him. We all enjoyed his story telling about his childhood and the great life that he lived. Roger will be greatly missed by everyone who crossed paths with him.

Roger was preceded in death by his mother and father, Helen Smestad and Arthur Pierson; spouse, Sandra Pierson; and brothers, Roy, Raynard, and Rodney “Whitey” Pierson.

Roger is survived by his son, Christopher (Angie) Pierson; grandchildren, Andrew Altringer; Taylor (Katie) Pierson; Jacob Pierson (Ariana Harrington); great grandson, Leo Dean Pierson; great granddaughter, Emily Luella Pierson; and great grandson, Wesley Roger Pierson. Roger is also survived by his brother-in-law, Lyle (Judy) Wergeland; niece, Zoe (Peter) Manstrom, and sister-in-law, Debbie Pierson.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Ethos Hospice team and Corner Home Medical for the beautiful care, compassion and thoughtfulness during this difficult time and their ability to guide us through Roger’s journey.

Visitation will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, August 28, 2026, at West-Kjos Funeral Home, 900 Summit Avenue, Detroit Lakes, MN with memorial service and lunch to follow.

In addition, an extended thank you to family and friends who were there for us any time of the day or night. You know who you are ! We loved Roger to the moon and back but watching him fade so quickly was the hardest thing we have ever done. We were so happy to be there for him and as Roger told us, “you’re doing a fantastic job, for a couple of rookies.”