Perry Blaser

Perry Anne Blaser, 88, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 2025 at Evans Senior Living in Cresco, Iowa.
Perry Anne Robinson was born March 4, 1937, in Jamestown Township, Howard County, Iowa to Henry H. and Winnie (Sigler) Robinson. Her father passed away in 1940, but her family continued to farm until 1947, when the family moved to Riceville, Iowa. While living on the farm, Perry spent many hours riding her pony, Blossom, which she shared many stories about with her grandkids. After moving to Riceville, she enjoyed playing six on six basketball in high school. She also had an extracurricular activity of climbing the Riceville water tower.
The story is she met her life partner Arnold "Arnie" Blaser at a dance in Riceville. They got married on September 30, 1954, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cresco. They lived with Perry's mother in Riceville and Arnie worked at Oliver's in Charles City, Iowa. In March 1955, Arnie moved to a farm near Kendallville, IA while Perry stayed in Riceville until their first child was born in April. Perry and their son, Bruce, moved to the farm not long after. Arnie and Perry worked side by side on the farm raising dairy cows, hogs and crops. During the time on Doc Luhers their son, Dale was born February 15, 1957, and on the same date in 1961 their daughter, Judy was born. The family moved to the farm east of Cresco in Orleans Township in December 1962. Their youngest daughter, Deanna was born in March of 1964.
Perry was small in stature, but her kids learned that small stature was not to be toyed with. You never had to guess where you stood with mom. She was a hard worker all her life and taught her kids that hard work never killed anyone.
She had a major stroke in 1992, which would have disabled most people, but she fought her way back and was able to be an integral part of the farm. Perry and Arnie slowed the farming operation down in 2007 when Arnie was diagnosed with lymphoma. Their last corn harvest was in 2012.
Arnie passed away in 2013. Perry stayed on the farm until 2015, when she sold the acreage and moved to town. She had some health issues in 2019 and moved into Cresco Assisted Living in January of 2020. She started to have serious problems with rheumatoid arthritis, which she had been dealing with for 70 years. She moved to Evans Senior Living in July 2025. She was looking forward to getting together for Christmas dinner at Deanna's when she became ill. She told some of the staff at Evans that it was her time to go. On December 19th she went on Hospice and told her family she was ready to go. Five days later, her wish was granted.
Perry is survived by her sons Bruce (Judy) Blaser and Dale (Marsha) Blaser both of Cresco; daughters Judy Carolan of St. Francis, MN and Deanna (Matt) Gates of Cresco; grandchildren: Steve (Staci) Blaser of Oklahoma City, OK, Elizabeth (Dave) Thomsen of Princeton, MN, Curtis Ryan of St. Francis, MN, Laura (Jeremy) Hill of Isanti, MN, Brian (Heather) Lepa of Waterloo, IA, Sam (Kelsey ) Lepa of South Carolina, Carly Heimerdinger of Waterloo, IA, Kenedy (Dustin) Reichert of Muscatine, IA, Matt (Gina) Sorsen of Rochester, MN and Charolette Sorsen of Andover, MN; brother Henry (Charlotte) Robinson Jr, 12 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents Henry and Winnie Robinson, in-laws Chris and Florence (Lewis) Blaser, husband Arnie in 2013, brothers Charles and Leonard (Phyllis) Robinson, sister Hazle B. Robinson, son in-law Cliff Carolan and granddaughters Becca Conlin and Sarah Brown.
The family is so grateful for the wonderful care Perry received at the Evans Home, helping to make her final days comfortable. Also, a special thanks to Howard County Hospice for the compassionate care and assistance in helping Perry make a smooth transition.
Mom is in Heaven riding Blossom, but I'm sure Dad still says Blossom is the orneriest horse he knows.
Smooth trails, Mom.
In lieu of flowers, memorial can be given to Howard County Community Hospice, Immanuel Lutheran Church or the New Oregon Cemetery.
Memorial services will be held at 11:00am on January 10, 2026, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cresco. A visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00pm on January 9, 2026, at Schmelzer Funeral Home in Cresco (formerly Lindstrom), and again one hour prior to services at the church on Saturday morning.