Cheryl Sue Peterson, 83

Sue Peterson, 83, passed away at her home to join Our Lord and Savior in paradise. She was born in 1940 to Lyle and Melva. She grew up in Ponca, Nebraska. She had one sister, Julee.

As a child, she sang, tap-danced, played piano, organ, saxophone and accordion. During this time, Nancy Curry was her best friend and they enjoyed all activities together, often with their entire families present. She and Nancy continued to stay in touch and spoke often by phone as adults. Sue was active in the high school band and was also a cheerleader. She spent many hours singing in church recitals and at school. She was the queen of her senior prom in high school.

Sue attended college at University of South Dakota for three years and earned an associate degree and an elementary teaching certificate with an emphasis in special education. While in college, she married her beau, Larry Peterson. She and Larry were friends for 77 years and were married for 64 years. Sue and Larry lived in South Dakota before moving on to Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Utah, and eventually Montana. In 1985, Sue and Larry relocated to Anchorage, Alaska, where they lived for 10 years before both retiring and returning to Montana.

Sue worked as a montessori school teacher in both South Dakota and Montana. In Montana, she worked as a bookkeeper/office manager/sales manager at City Service and Tri-City Lumber/H.E. Simpson Lumber. In Alaska, Sue worked as the executive secretary to the manager of the Anchorage branch of Merrill Lynch and as a premium auditor for worker’s compensation at Industrial Indemnity.

Sue’s creativity was endless. She took joy in crafting, family genealogy, gardening, scrapbooking, parenting and especially cooking, always offering mouth-watering food at dinners where she hosted family and friends. She was an excellent thinker, very good at puzzles and crosswords. She also faced many health challenges throughout her life but was never anything but positive. She was a true warrior when it came to managing her health.

Once she and Larry were both retired, they spent years traveling by RV to nearly all states, Canada and Mexico. They also traveled to Tahiti and made yearly trips to Hawaii for many years. They especially enjoyed their time making memories with friends in all areas they traveled.

Sue was a member of Daughters of the Nile and spent 65 years as a member of Eastern Star. She also served as First Lady of Montana’s Algeria Shrine Temple while Larry served as Potentate from 2001-2002. In Kalispell, she was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and taught Sunday school for a short time.

Spending a great deal of time online, Sue created a site to reconnect people to her hometown of Ponca. At the time of her death, the site had just short of 1,000 members. These members enjoyed her posts about the history of the area, old memories, events, photographs and information pertaining to the residents of the area.

Sue had hundreds of friends. Did we mention she was loved by all? Because she was! Sue had a giving personality and she was overjoyed when she could make others happy. She was the white stuff in the Oreo cookie. We will miss her cheer, smile and the love she provided every day of her life. Now, we expect she is having an absolute blast, probably serving as an event planner, or the like, in Heaven with Our Lord.

Sue was preceded in death by her sister, Julee; and her father, Lyle.

She is survived by her husband, Larry; mother, Melva; son, Layne; and daughter Lynae (Alan). She had seven grandchildren, Jaimee, Megan, Julee, Amanda, Kyrie, Garth, Ethan (Charlene); and one niece, Kris. She is also survived by three great-grandchildren, whom she adored, Kelbii, Mila and Elias.

Sue’s celebration of life will be held July 12 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Kalispell at 10 a.m. with a reception to follow. In lieu of gifts, the family asks that memorials be made to either Shriners Hospitals for Children or to J. Armstrong Memorial Endowment Fund at P.O. Box 568 Ponca, NE 68770.

Friends are encouraged to visit our website at www.buffalohillfh.com to leave notes of condolences for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory caring for the family.