Anne Peterson

Anne F. Mandigo Peterson, 90, former long term resident of Bismarck, passed peacefully from this world into Heaven on April 29, 2005. Services will be held at 2 PM Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck, with the Rev. Steve Sathre officiating. Burial will be at the North Dakota Veteran's Cemetery, Mandan, Monday, May 9, at 11 AM. Visitation will be from 11 AM - 9 PM Friday at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Anne was born on October 29, 1914 in Bismarck Hospital, the daughter of Wellington D. Mandigo and Jessie Mae Hurlbut. She had three brothers - Donald, Hugh and Bruce. Jessie passed away at the young age of 33 Anne was only 6 years old, and Wellington then married Stella A. Nelson. Wellington and Stella had one daughter - Melvina. While Anne was very young, Wellington owned a grocery store in Bismarck. After selling the grocery store in the 1920s, the Mandigo family operated a dairy farm approximately one mile north of the State Capitol Building. Cows were milked by hand, and milk and butter were delivered by horse and wagon in mornings before school seven days per week including holidays. In 1927, Wellington and Stella purchased a farm southeast of Braddock, ND, and moved the family to their new home. Anne attended Bismarck schools, and graduated from Bismarck High School in 1932. Anne's first employment after graduating from high school was in 1935 as a clerk-typist with the Rural Resettlement Administration in Bismarck, ND. This was an emergency federal program to assist farmers during the drought and Great Depression. When the ND state office was integrated into a regional office in Lincoln, NE, she was transferred to that office. However, it was understood that this was a temporary program, so in 1937, when the opportunity for private employment arose, Anne accepted a clerk-typist position in Bismarck with Winston and Newell Co., a wholesale grocery firm that is now known as Super Valu Stores, Inc. She continued working for that firm until 1942, when she resigned to be married. Anne Mandigo and Lawrence Peterson had planned for three years to be married in June, 1942. Therefore, despite the fact that our country was at war and Lawrence was in the U. S. Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, they decided not to wait any longer. Lawrence could not get time off to return to North Dakota, so Anne traveled to Washington, and they were married in the 188th Field Artillery Chapel on June 10, 1942. The couple lived in Tacoma, WA, for about a year before Lawrence was transferred to the California desert and then to Oklahoma for several months. While living in Tacoma, Anne worked in the accounting office of Western State Hospital at nearby Fort Steilacoom. When Lawrence was sent to the European Theatre of war in 1943, Anne returned to Bismarck and was employed as a secretary by the Public Welfare Board of ND. Upon learning that Anne had returned to ND, her former employer at the Winston and Newell Co. persuaded her to be his secretary at the regional office in Fargo. She retained that position until her employer retired from the company, and then accepted a secretarial position in the medical office of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fargo. Anne retained that position until December, 1945, when Lawrence returned from World War II. In 1946, Lawrence and Anne entered into a partnership in a Super Valu retail grocery store in Frazee, MN, and later purchased a grocery store of their own Peterson Super Valu in Washburn, ND. They sold their grocery store in 1948. Lawrence and Anne gave birth to their first son, Douglas, in 1948, and to their second son, Larry, in 1949. During preschool years, Anne stayed home to care for their sons. After both Douglas and Larry had started school, Anne went back to work. She spent two very interesting years working for the Hansen Furniture Company. In 1957, when the State PTA Headquarters was established in Bismarck, Anne was appointed Director of the State Office and became editor of the NORTH DAKOTA PARENT-TEACHER magazine. In early 1960, the NORTH DAKOTA PARENT-TEACHER magazine was awarded first prize by the ND Press Women for "Magazine of Special Interest" by a woman. Later in 1960, Anne accepted a position as the Assistant Director/Personnel Officer of the Public Welfare Board now known as the Social Service Board of ND. She continued working for the Social Service Board until her retirement in 1977, and was classified as a Personnel Assistant at that time. In 1968, during her employment with the State of ND, Anne became only the fourth individual in the state to successfully complete the six-part examination for Certified Professional Secretary CPS. Also, from 1968-1969, Anne was President of the Sakakawea Chapter of the National Secretaries Association International and was selected as that Chapter's Secretary of the Year in 1969. Lawrence and Anne attended and graduated from Bismarck Junior College in 1974 with Associate of Arts Degrees in Business Administration, and from Mary College on May 2, 1986 with Bachelors Degrees in College Studies. During retirement, Lawrence and Anne traveled to all 50 states in the U.S., Canada several times, Europe four times, and Israel. Anne's other retirement hobbies included exercise walking, reading, knitting, crocheting, gardening, and cooking/baking Scandinavian and other foods. She made the world's best cheeseburger meatloaf and rhubarb cream pie. Anne's greatest love, and the pride and joy of her life, was her family. She loved being a wife, mother and grandmother to her family. She was happiest when surrounded by her husband, children and grandchildren. Her granddaughters were especially precious to her. Anne was a kind, compassionate, warm, caring, giving, and honest woman with a wonderful joy for life who was always concerned about helping others. She was a very special woman with deep faith and commitment to serve God, her family, her friends, and her community throughout her life. Anne was an active member of the Bismarck-Mandan community for many years. She has been a long-term member of Trinity Lutheran Church 40 years and past Sunday School Teacher while Lawrence was the Sunday School Superintendent, American Legion Auxiliary - Lloyd Spetz Post #1, International War Veterans' Alliance IWVA Ladies Auxiliary-USA, Sons of Norway Sverdrup Lodge #4-107 Life Member since 1968 and past Editor of the "DAGENS NYHETER", Nordmann's Forbundet, Bismarck-Mandan Elks Lodge #1199, North Dakota Veterans Cemetery Patron, North Dakota Conference of Social Welfare, Worthy High Priestess of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, The Eastern Star, The Shrine Auxiliary, American Parkinson's Disease Association, Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, Salvation Army Sponsoring Member, M-50 Club of Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center, Boy Scouts of America Alumni Family, National BSC Alumni Association, Bismarck Zoological Society Dakota Zoo, State Historical Society of North Dakota, North Dakota Heritage Foundation, Inc., the University of Mary President's Club, Dakota Hosts International DHI Travel Club, and served as a volunteer at MedCenter One. In 1989, Anne received a Certificate of Recognition from the State of North Dakota Centennial Commission that was given to Sons and Daughters of Pioneers. In July of 2002, shortly after Lawrence's death, Anne moved to an Assisted Living Facility in Roseville, CA, to be near her sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughters. She was living in a Skilled Nursing Facility in Roseville at the time of her death and was being cared for in a Roseville hospital when her wonderful and precious heart stopped beating. Anne will be dearly missed and lovingly remembered by sons, Douglas Peterson of Citrus Heights, CA, and Larry Peterson of Santa Cruz, CA; daughter-in-law, Kathryn Peterson of Citrus Heights, CA; granddaughters, Erica and Elena Peterson of Citrus Heights, CA; sister, Melvina Mandigo of Kintyre, ND; brothers-in-law, Leif Peterson of Flagstaff, AZ, and Nels Peterson of Burlington, WA; sisters-in-law, Sybil Peterson of McClusky, ND, Cindy Peterson of Flagstaff, AZ, and Bea Peterson of Burlington, WA; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and very special friends. Anne was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her step-mother; and brothers, Donald, Hugh and Bruce. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to the North Dakota Veteran's Cemetery south of Mandan.

Anne Peterson

October 29, 1914 - April 29, 2005