Mary Elizabeth Peterson

Mary was born to Emma and William Morcomb on Dec. 23, 1928, in Winona, Minn. She grew up as the youngest of four children on a farm near Brainerd, Minn.

At two years old, she met the love of her life while peering over the church pew at five year old Lester Peterson in the South Long Lake Presbyterian Church. They reconnected after Lester returned from WWII. Their first date was a Valentine’s Day dance. They were married almost 60 years before Lester passed away.

They made their home on a dairy farm in Brainerd where they had four children. In 1959, the warm, sunny skies of the west called and they moved to Chandler, Arizona where they made a home two blocks from another Presbyterian Church. They were both active in their church. They had one more child who died at birth. Mary worked as a retail store clerk and as a teacher’s aide.

She loved feeding her family! You couldn’t go to her house without being offered food and to hear her say: “Have you had enough? There’s more!” She sewed the most perfect & creative Barbie doll clothes when she was younger then turned to crafts in later years. She also liked to garden, go camping and fishing. It was common to see her pick up the hatchet to make firewood. Some of the best memories of Mary are of her funny, old fashioned sayings that the grandchildren loved.

In their 50’s, Mary and Lester moved to Colorado where they bought a small ranch on Reeder Mesa. She continued to clerk at local stores in Grand Junction. She had quit high school her junior year in order to save money for her wedding, so in her 50’s she proudly earned her GED while recuperating from a broken elbow caused by sledding with the grandchildren. In their 60’s they moved to town and started to be snow birds – spending the winters in Arizona and summers in Grand Junction.

Mary is survived by her daughters: Alice McCown of Mesa, AZ and Lori (Robert) Wood of Grand Junction, son-in-law Mark Clair of Price and daughter-in-law Carol Peterson of Mesa; 13 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. Her husband, Lester and children Nancy Clair, Robert and Jacqueline Peterson preceded her in death, along with grandchildren, Shelby Whiting and Chase Blaylock.

Funeral will be held Friday August 19, 2016 at 2 pm at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary with a viewing at 1 pm.