Dorothy Peterson

Dorothy E. Peterson, 86, of 1005 First Ave South, Clear Lake, died Thursday,  March 6, 2008 at Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, Mason City.  A funeral service was held Monday, March 10, at the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Diana Hoover officiating. Interment was at the Clear Lake Cemetery.  Memorials may be given to Hospice of North Iowa and the Clear Lake United Methodist Church.
     Dorothy Eileen Witter was born July 5, 1921, the second child of Ralph Leslie and Nettie Mae (Betz) Witter in Storm Lake, Iowa.  Dorothy graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1939.  She graduated from Buena Vista College, Storm Lake in 1941.  She taught three years in Hartley, Iowa.  Dorothy married Sophus Fredric Peterson Nov. 24, 1944 at the Methodist Church in Storm Lake.
     Family was of great importance to Dorothy and she cherished time with her children and grandchildren.  She loved to cook for her family and decorated the house seasonally, making the house festive.  She was a member of the Clear Lake United Methodist Church for more than 57 years. Dorothy was active in choir and Women’s Fellowship Circle.
     Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Nancy Eileen and her husband, Thomas McCarthy, of Orlando, Fla.; two sons, Robert William Peterson of Clear Lake and Fredric Ralph Peterson and his wife, Joan Elizabeth, of Freeborn, Minn.; three grandchildren, Brian Fredric McCarthy and his wife, Michelle, Orlando, Samuel Fredric Peterson, Freeborn, and Autumn Elizabeth Peterson, Freeborn; two sisters-in-law, Dorothy Pedersen, Omaha, Neb., and Ruth Peterson of Napa, Calif.
     She was preceded in death by her husband, Sophus, in 2004; her parents, Ralph in 1977 and Nettie in 1968; brother, Don in 1961; and granddaughter, Michele in 2005.
    Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, was in charge of arrangements.