Karen Pedersen

Anton (Tony) Kristian Pedersen February 4th, 1920 – July 30th, 2023 As kind as he was gentle. Tony Pedersen was born on his great-grandfather’s farm in Denmark in 1920. He began a Machinist apprenticeship at 18. After completion, he was one of 12 men among 300 applicants accepted as machinists for the Danish Air Force. During this period Germany had occupied Denmark. In 1943 Anton and fellow servicemen were interned in a camp. It was believed that Danish King Christian X intervened on their behalf and effected their release. Anton then escaped to Sweden on a fishing boat, where he spent the remainder of the war at a Swedish air base, while also working in the Danish underground. At the end of the war, the lure of travel called, and he left Denmark for Brazil with the allowable maximum of $50 in his pocket. In Brazil his new name became Antonio. Here he worked for a Brazilian company servicing DC3’s, and learned Portuguese language. The company was in dire straits and …