PETERSON, Bertil John

PETERSON, ANDERSON, ROBERTSON, RUD, BUENGER, OHLSON, OIE, HIRSCHMAN, JOHNSON, TOLZIN

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 11/10/2008 at 10:06:44

BERTIL JOHN PETERSON

Funeral services for Bertil J. Peterson, 83, of Aurelia, will be 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, November 11, 2008, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, with Pastor Jim Steen officiating. Burial will be in the Good Hope Cemetery, rural Cherokee. Visitation will be Monday from 2:00 P.M. till 8:00 P.M., with the family being present from 6:00 to 8:00, at the Redig Funeral Home in Aurelia. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established.

Bertil John Peterson was born on February 28, 1925, south of Aurelia, Iowa, the son of August and Anna (Anderson) Peterson. He was baptized and confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee. He attended school in Aurelia through the eighth grade when he joined his father in the family farm. On September 23, 1945, Bertil married Vera Robertson Rud of Cleghorn at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Bertil was on various church and community boards. His first love was farming and raising cattle and hogs. His family was his main focus, and he loved to have them around as much as possible. In the 1970’s Bertil and Vera purchased a trailer at Sand Bar Beach on Big Spirit Lake. They loved to fish and spend time with friends and family. As the family grew they decided to purchase a cabin on Big Spirit, with a beach for the grandkids to play on. The grandchildren spent much of their summers with aunts and uncles and cousins, and have many fond memories and funny stories to share of the times spent with their grandparents, both at the lake and farm. Due to Vera’s health they moved into Aurelia in the late 1990’s.

Bertil died Friday, November 7, 2008, at the Sunset Knoll Care and Rehab Center in Aurelia.

Preceding Bertil in death were his parents, his wife Vera on March 7, 2005, one daughter, Sandra Jean, one grandson, Brian Buenger, one sister, Marian Peterson, and one brother-in-law, Kenneth Ohlson.

Survivors include four daughters, Janet Kay and her husband Norman Buenger of Holstein, Kathy Jo and her husband Ed Oie of Eagan, MN, Karen Lynn Hirschman of Spirit Lake, and Julie Ann and her husband Michael Johnson of Winnebago, MN. In the 1950’s Keith Tolzin came to live with the Peterson family, and is like a son. Keith and his wife Jan live in Ellensburg, WA. Also surviving are ten grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, one brother, Harold and his wife Marilee Peterson of Aurelia, one sister, Betty Ohlson of Cherokee, one nephew and several nieces, and other relatives and friends.