CAROL JEAN PETERSON, 81, of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away peacefully, Monday evening, November 13, 2017 at her residence.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, November 17th, at 10:30 a.m. at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, Pastor Jean Morse will officiate. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee, Iowa. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Friday. Visitation will be on Thursday from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. with the family present from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral home in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Carol Jean (Anderson) Peterson was born on September 4, 1936 in Sioux Valley Hospital in Cherokee to Leonard L and Mildred (Bloomberg) Anderson. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Carol was a proud member of the 1st class to graduate from the new Washington High School in 1954. She enjoyed celebrating her 50 year class reunion in 2004 when two of her grandchildren were graduating from the same school. In March of 1957 she was married to Dale Werthman in Cherokee. To this union were born 3 children, Lori, Joe, and Sheila. Dale passed away August 11, 1962.

In May of 1967 Carol was reunited with her old high school flame, Marvin Peterson when he came back to Cherokee on leave. After a whirlwind courtship they were married on June 15, 1967 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church with their five children in attendance. In addition to Carol's three children Marvin had two of his own, Marvin K (Butch) and Kathy. Marvin was in the Air Force so the family moved to Mountain Home Idaho. While Marvin did a tour in Viet Nam Carol and the children came back and lived in Cherokee. Carol and the kids stayed on in Cherokee while Marvin did a tour in Korea. Next it was off to Dover, Delaware and then on to Minot, North Dakota.

When Marvin retired from the Air Force in 1971 the family moved back to Cherokee. In 1978 the couple built a new home on Oak Knoll Drive. In later years they moved to Aurelia, IA and enjoyed living there for 18 years. In September of 2014 Marvin and Carol moved back to Cherokee to be closer to family.

Carol worked as a bookkeeper at Jesse's Fine Meats for 14 years. She then accepted a bookkeeping position at Brown's Chevrolet for 14 years. After her retirement they enjoyed traveling to Pharr, TX for the winter months for 13 years. They enjoyed a trip to Germany where they were able to be given the grand tour by Carol's brother Jerry and sister-in-law Anita. They also enjoyed cruises to Alaska and Hawaii. For Carol's 80th birthday her children gave her a "bucket list" birthday party and her daughter Sheila took her on a trip to Niagra Falls so she could check one more thing off her bucket list.
Carol enjoyed reading and working out at the Wellness Center. She was a member of a Red Hat group in Cherokee and enjoyed getting together with her friends. She loved to bake and usually had fresh cookies on hand for visitors. She had a deep faith and would always say she just didn't feel right if she didn't get to church. The past 11 months she has been a faithful visitor at the Villa spending every morning with her husband Marvin there. She always enjoyed time spent with her kids, grand kids, and great grand kids.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents Leonard and Mildred Anderson as well as an infant brother Leonard O, older brother Richard (Dick), and younger brother Carl (Jerry.) Also her in-laws John and Mildred Peterson, sister and brother-in-law Kenny and Joyce Gould, and sister-in-law Jane Anne Wilmot.

She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Marvin W Peterson, children Marvin K (Butch) of Papillion NE, Kathy (Mark) Stief of Larrabee, Lori (Tim) LaFave and Joe (Linda) Peterson of Cherokee, and Sheila (Doug) Alesch of Marcus. She also has 12 grandchildren, and many great grandchildren, as well as several great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister-in-law Anita Anderson of Hot Springs Village, AR and a brother-in-law Dale Wilmot of Kansas City as well as numerous nephews, nieces, and friends.