Funeral Services for Ina Pekas, 74, will be Saturday, September 15, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Mott. Rev. John Amundson will officiate and burial will be on Monday, September 17 at 12:00 p.m. MT/1:00 p.m. CT at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery south of Mandan, ND. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 14 at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Mott and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday morning. A Family service will be at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening at the Church.

Ina Stevahn was born April 25, 1938 to Reinhold and Ida Stevahn in rural Leith N.D. She grew up on a farm near Brisbane N.D. and attended school there until the 8th grade; she then moved to Mott for high school. She was united in marriage with Verlin Pekas on September 27, 1954 in Regent N.D. They lived together in Mott until Verlin left for the service in 1955. At that time Ina moved to Carson N.D. and worked at Krause Super Value until Verlin returned in 1957. They then moved to Bentley N.D. where they raised their three daughters. In 1975 they moved back to Mott. In 1977 Ina began her career working at the Good Samaritan Home, and worked there for 35 years.


Ina was known and loved for her cooking; some favorites were kuchen, sauerkraut & knephla, steak & dumplings, strudels, cheese buttons and chocolate pudding pops. She had a passion for family history and made a point to keep all her books updated throughout the years. She was always so proud of her stamp, coin, and movie collections. She loved to read and her favorite movies were Gone with the Wind and Titanic. She loved to crochet dollies, blankets, Christmas tree shirts and make barbie doll clothes for her girls. Her family always looked forward to the blankets she made for everyone each year. Some of her favorite vacations were Oregon, California, Yellowstone, Hawaii, a Caribbean Cruise, & Medora and The Badlands. She kept her hair long just for Papa because she knew how much he loved long hair & she could always find a way to get someone to brush it for her.  She had a beautiful smile, contagious laugh, and a heart of gold that will be missed so deeply but will be remembered forever.

Ina Pekas passed away early Monday morning, September 10, 2012 at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN.

Ina is survived by her devoted and loving husband, Verlin Pekas, of Mott, her daughters, Debra Dutchuk, Bismarck, ND, Darlene (Jack) Wait, Mound, MN and Donna Friedt, Mott, ND; grandchildren, Troy (Kristin), Corey, Latoya Dutchuk, Natalie, Nicole, Noelle Wait, Melissa (Craig) Miller, Michael and Mason Friedt; great grandchildren, Lukas and Braxton Dutchuk and Rhett and Rebecca Miller; sisters, Ruth Hinman and Leona (Norbert) Amann; brothers, Leo (Ellen) Stevahn and Reinhold (Judy) Stevahn.

Ina was preceded in death by her son, Verlin R. Pekas Jr., her parents, Reinhold and Ida Stevahn, her sisters, Barbara Udell, Erna Babcox and Enda Cole.