Nancy Vail Peterson

Nancy Vail Peterson, 69, died after a brief struggle with cancer on Saturday, December 27, 2008.

Born in Melrose, MA in 1939, to Ralph Vail Gage and Helen Elizabeth Gage, she grew up in New England.

She graduated Cum Laude from Hanover College (class of 1960) where she majored in Secondary Education and minored in French. It was there that she also met and married James Peterson, with whom she shared a rich and full marriage of 48 years.

After college, she and Jim moved to Cincinnati, OH, then Detroit, MI, where she was a school teacher, and eventually settled in Elkhart, IN, where Nancy was a loving mother, and worked as a substance abuse counselor at Oaklawn Center.

Nancy had many passions in life. One of them was knitting, and she had many friends in the knitting community. She was also lover of travel, a voracious reader, and a Notre Dame football fan.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Mishawaka and sang in the church choir.

She is survived by her husband, James Peterson; two daughters, Lisa (Kyle) Barnett and Betsy (Bill) Kaminski; two sons, Steve (Kristina) and John Peterson; one sister, Susan (David) Long; and two grandsons.

Visitation will be held from 2 – 4 pm and 6 – 8 pm Friday, at Stemm Lawson Peterson Funeral Home (1531 Cobblestone Blvd Elkhart, IN 46514, 574-293-6411). A funeral service will take place at 2 pm (visiting with the family starts at 1 pm) on Saturday, January 3 at the First Presbyterian Church of Mishawaka (401 Lincolnway E, Mishawaka, IN 46544, 574-259-7874)

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in memory of Nancy Peterson be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Website: www.pancan.org
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
2141 Rosecrans Ave, Suite 7000
El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone: 877.272.6226
Checks can be made payable to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Memo line: “Nancy Peterson, for research only.”