Marilyn Doris (Young) Peterson

Sept. 5, 1926 — Jan. 6, 2018

Marilyn Doris (Young) Peterson was born on Sept. 5, 1926, in Dearborn, Michigan, where her father had left England for work at Ford Motor Company. During the 1930s, the family returned to England for a few years. Upon return, Marilyn developed a lifelong love of books and determined to become a children’s librarian, graduating from Wayne State University in Detroit. She married Gerald Alfred Peterson in 1952 through the Ford Thunderbird Ski Club, which Gerald founded. 

They had two children, Mary Elizabeth and James Gerald, and spent eight years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before finding their final home on a farm near Star City and Winamac. There Marilyn immersed herself in teaching at the Winamac Elementary School and designing the new school library, complete with story “pit,” where she spent many delightful hours reading to the children and teaching them the skills they needed to use the library.

A classical pianist, she enjoyed volunteering for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and eventually found music again with friends in Pulaski County with the local Extension Chords Choir. She traveled far and wide with her beloved husband Jerry in their travel trailer, from Alaska to Mexico, and Maine to California, and flew back to England a couple of times with her daughter. 

Marilyn, 91, passed away Saturday, Jan. 6, in Danville, Illinois, where her daughter resides. She is survived by husband Gerald, age 101; her two children and son-in-law Dr. George Zundo; grandchildren: Michael, Sam, and Emma Peterson, Dr. Erik and Andrew Zundo; and great-grandchildren: Jack and Luke Zundo. She was deeply loved.

Family asks that in lieu of flowers, friends may choose to donate in her memory to the ASPCA or the Pulaski Animal Center.

Share memories and condolences online at www.hippensteelfuneralservice.com. 

(Pulaski County Journal — Jan. 17, 2018)

Pulaski County Journal

114 W. Main Street
Winamac, IN 46996

(574) 946-6628
 

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