Verna Mae Peterson

Loving mother, grandmother, wife and dear friend to many, Verna Mae Peterson (88) passed away on October 28, 2022, in Vancouver, WA. She was born to Charles and Carrie Delora Brown on August 22, 1934, in Glenns Ferry, ID. Verna graduated from high school in Boise in 1952. Following high school, she trained as an X-ray technician at Saint Alphonsus. With her parents’ blessing, she relocated to Southern California. There she continued to support herself working as an X-ray Technician but ultimately decided she was much more interested in aviation. She was hired by United Airlines as a reservations and sales agent on the graveyard shift. It was at United that she met her first husband, John April, a handsome aspiring pilot. They were married in Compton in 1955 in the presence of John’s mother F. Marie Meadows and his grandmother Frances Havener. Soon John’s flying had them relocate to San Mateo, CA and later to Long Beach, CA. John had begun flying in the Alaska-Pacific Division of Pan American World Airways. In 1956 they welcomed their son Gary. And in 1960 John and Verna were blessed a second time with the birth of daughter Andra.

In 1961 tragedy struck when John died in a private plane crash. Verna was suddenly a single mother at 26. Her mother immediately flew out to California to stay with Verna, Gary and Andra. It was during this time that the wife of a United Airlines pilot who had crashed in the Grand Canyon reached out to Verna. With her mother’s encouragement, the two young women flew to Hawaii using the tickets John had purchased for Hawaii prior to his death. When she flew back into San Francisco, she went straight to the Pan Am office to talk to someone about a job. She spoke to the sales manager because that’s who was hiring. She was hired on the spot to work as an agent in the ticket offices for Pan Am in the San Francisco Bay Area including the iconic Pan Am office on Post Alley in downtown San Francisco.

In 1969 Verna married Paul Peterson. Paul was an industrial engineer working for Western Electric. The family relocated from San Jose, CA to Vancouver, WA when Paul accepted a job opportunity in Portland, OR. Verna was able to transfer to the Pan Am ticket office in Portland. Verna enjoyed a lengthy career at Pan Am and made many treasured friends. She retired as a Special Sales Representative in 1991 when Pan Am shut its doors.

An animal lover at heart, Verna enjoyed horses and dogs. She was a member of the Cascade Bouvier Des Flandres club for many years making many lifelong friends and raising bouviers Tiffany, Zoddy, Omega, Sally, Tiffany2, Dodie and Maisey.

Verna was an avid gardener as anyone who visited her home would know. Her yard at her home on Evergreen Highway is a work of art in amongst the old growth Douglas fir, cedar, redwood and vine leaf maples she loved.

All who knew Verna will miss her smile, her sense of humor, but mostly we will miss her strength and the warmth that always emanated from her. We will think of her whenever we hear an Abba song. We will especially remember her at Christmas as she loved the holidays, gathering family and friends to watch the annual Christmas Ships Parade on the Columbia River.

She was preceded in death by her husband Paul; her parents Charles and Carrie Delora Brown; sisters Iris Andersen and Lois Darnielle; brothers Eddie Brown and Roy Brown.

Verna is survived by her son Gary (Peggy) April, her daughter Andra April and her stepdaughter Elizabeth Harman; 3 grandchildren Lilly (Haley) Wike, Cassie (Matt) King and Hannah Pierce; 6 great grandchildren; and extended family in Montana and Colorado.

There will be a memorial service for family and friends on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Portland, OR.