Gale Norma (Dahlmeier) Peterson

Gale Norma Peterson 83, of rural Scotia, Nebraska passed away Monday, December 9, 2019 at her home surrounded by her family

A Celebration of Gale's Life will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at the Scotia United Methodist Church in Scotia, Nebraska.  Pastor Bonnie Brock will be officiating. A Private Burial will be at Pibel Cemetery near Ericson, NE. 

Memorials are suggested to the Arbor Day Foundation. Jacobsen-Greenway-Dietz Funeral Home in St. Paul is in charge of arrangements.

Gale was born to Glen & Neola (Hamilton Dahlmeier) in Pipestone, Minnesota on January 23, 1936.  She was raised on her parent’s farm in Moody County, South Dakota.  She received her education in Jasper, MN, graduating from high school in 1953.

She attended Westmar College in Iowa where she met Andrew Peterson whom she married not long after a Valentine’s Day first date.  They were married August 27, 1955 at the Salem Church in rural Pipestone, Minnesota.  Gale received a degree in education at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) in 1957. She taught in the one room schoolhouse which her grandfather helped build and where she had attended. After a time on the family farm property near where she grew up, Andy and Gale relocated to the northwest corner of New Mexico where Gale taught school in Farmington, also at a Bureau of Indian Affairs school near Gallup, and later was employed by the Navajo tribe and ran the largest preschool on the reservation. 

They later moved to Vermillion, South Dakota where they finished raising their six children.

Gale was a prolific seamstress and kept busy making memorable outfits & Halloween costumes for children for grandchildren, as well as operating upholstery & sewing business.  Gale played piano and instilled a love of music and performance in her family that continues to this day.

For several years Gale worked as the Human Resources Director at USD School of Medicine, from which she eventually retired due to poor health.  After 36 years in Vermillion, Gale & Andy returned to his family farm in Scotia, Nebraska relocating and renovating the kit home that now sits beside the ponds built by her father-in-law, Alfred Peterson.  Gale and her family enjoyed summer visits to the fishing cottage built by her grandfather on Loon Lake in Minnesota.  This lovely spot was Gale’s favorite place.  She also enjoyed flower gardening, drawing, cooking and collecting bells, teapots and miniature lighthouses.  She was a great listener, had an infectious sense of humor, and was utterly devoted to her family.

She suffered from a long-term chronic illness and while she will be dearly missed, we know that she is now free of pain and in everlasting peace, reunited with her family of origin and dear sister, Rita, lost too soon.  Gale was able to rest at home in her remaining days, overlooking the pond, enjoying the ducks and beautiful sunsets, surrounded by her loving husband and family, plus a few cats.

Those left to cherish her memory include her husband, Andrew Peterson of Scotia, Nebraska;  children and spouses, Rick Peterson and Karen Bohr of San Antonio, Texas, Terri Peterson of Scotia, Nebraska, Kristi and Harold One Feather of Oakland, California, Lori Peterson of Yankton, South Dakota, Lisa Pettigrew of St Paul, Minnesota, and Steven Peterson of Vermillion, South Dakota; seven grandchildren, Jerrid, Bruyer (Shelby), Morgan (Dylan), Claire (Brandon), Anthony, Nathan, Joseph, and Lillian; one great-grandchild, Everly Abigale; and one great-grandchild due in December.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Glen & Neola; brother, Daryl Dahlmeier; and sister, Rita Dahlmeier.    

Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.jacobsengreenway.com

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