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Evelyn Asta (Sorensen) Petersen
EVELYN ASTA (SORENSEN) PETERSEN
Blairstown
Evelyn Asta (Sorensen) Petersen, 93, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, at the Keystone Nursing Care Center.
Memorial services will be held in September (date to be determined) at Blairstown Presbyterian Church in Blairstown. Private family graveside services will be held at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Blairstown. A memorial fund has been established.
Evelyn was born on March 27, 1928, in Chicago, the daughter of Axel and Ellen (Hansen) Sorensen. Evelyn graduated from Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago, and Grandview College and Coe College. She was united in marriage to Rubert "Bob" Petersen on March 24, 1949, in Chicago. The couple moved to Blairstown in 1957. Evelyn taught first and second grade at Benton Community School until her retirement in 1990. She moved to Van Horne in 2005 to be closer to her children.
Evelyn loved all forms of creativity. She loved music and singing. She loved flowers and gardening. She sketched and painted, crocheted and knitted, upholstered and wallpapered, and passed many of these talents, passions and skills on to her family. Her crocheted snowflakes were coveted by all her children, grandchildren and friends. Her frugality and ingenuity were legendary and were often the source of much teasing and laughter by her family. Frugality aside, she loved to go to Tama and gamble with her dear friends Joan, Charlene and Sharon (Golden Girls Go Gambling). Evelyn was active in her church (Blairstown Presbyterian), Blairstown Legion Auxiliary and the Van Horne Floralia Guild. She was an election officer after her retirement which she continued well into her 80s.
Evelyn is survived by her children, Paul (Pat) Petersen of Durango, Colo., Peggy (Derrick) Pickering of Van Horne, Nancy Petersen of Apple Valley Minn., Ross (Christine) Petersen of Van Horne; nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren; and her sister, Karen Madigan of Santa Rosa, Calif.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Rubert, in 2000; and granddaughter, Alyssa Petersen, in 1992.
Online condolences: www.phillipsfuneralhomes.com.
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