Obituaries

LuVerne Petersen

Posted

LuVerne Lois Wilson Petersen was born May 17, 1925, in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and died May 29 in Tacoma at age 97. She moved to Washington with her parents at the age of 17.

After graduating from Stadium High School, LuVerne attended Tacoma General Hospital School of Nursing and graduated as a registered nurse in 1946. Later that fall, LuVerne married John Richard Petersen. They raised three daughters in Tacoma and spent their summers at Sunrise Beach in Gig Harbor. The couple moved to Longbranch in 1975, where they lived a wonderful and active life for over 40 years.

Not one to sit idle, LuVerne was an independent thinker and a lifelong learner. She pursued her dreams and interests with a strong, sensible approach.
Her nursing career took her from hospital work to a doctor’s office to the student health center at Pacific Lutheran University. She worked to put her girls through college and after the last check went to Washington State University in 1978, she retired the very next day.

She was a talented and beautiful seamstress and an avid birdwatcher, her binoculars never far out of reach. She had a passion for genealogy and spent years researching the family trees, leaving her family a precious gift of history.
LuVerne knew the secret of balance — she pursued her dreams but always had time for her family.

LuVerne was preceded in death by her loving husband John Richard Petersen. She is survived by her daughters, Jeanette L. Petersen, Karen M. Prim, Lisa A. Parker (Dave); seven grandchildren, Jenae, Lisa, Tara, Brady, Brett, Matt, Scott; and three great-grandchildren, Corbin, Sloane and Logan.

She was laid to rest June 7 at the Longbranch Cemetery. Donations can be made to The Mustard Seed Project in memory of LuVerne Petersen at P.O. Box 182, Vaughn, WA 98394.


UNDERWRITTEN BY NEWSMATCH/MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ROTARY CLUB OF GIG HARBOR, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT LOCAL, INDEPENDENT NONPROFIT NEWS