Memorial services for 72-year-old Cathy Peterson of Chadron, NE, are Sat, May 21, 2022 at 2:00 at the Edgemont Baptist Church in Edgemont, SD.
A celebration of life will follow the next day, Sunday May 22, 2022, from 5:30-7:00 at the Ridgeview Golf Course in Chadron.
Online condolences may be made at www.chamberlainmccolleys.com
Cathy Jo (Childers) Peterson was born May 28, 1949, in Hot Springs to Vincent & Louise (Davis) Childers and passed away April 25, 2022, at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital in Rapid City, SD.
Cathy grew up on the family dairy, where she loved to ride her horse and learned at an early age about working hard.
Cathy attended the Edgemont school system graduating in 1967 as Salutatorian. She went on to college at the University of Wyoming, where she met & married Alan Quenelle in August 1968.
After graduating as a RN, Cathy worked as a nurse in the Portland, OR, Moses Lake, WA, and San Francisco / Oakland, CA, areas until after the death of her husband Alan.
She then moved to the Kirkland, WA, area and earned her master’s in nursing from the University of Washington.
Cathy continued to work as a RN until her mother Louise’s death from complications from diabetes. That inspired her to educate everyone about diabetes. She completed her training & became a Certified Diabetes Educator.
Cathy continued to work in the Kirkland area, then out of the blue in 2008, she reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Bruce Peterson, and they married May 1, 2009.
Cathy moved to Bruce’s ranch in southeast Kansas, but almost melted in the heat & humidity. So they sold out and Bruce bought a ranch west of Chadron.
Cathy started working as the Nurse Manager at Prairie Pines Assisted Living in Chadron in June of 2011 and as a diabetes educator at Chadron Community Hospital.
After a couple of years, she went full-time in diabetes education at the hospital. Cathy worked hard and got the diabetes education program at CCH certified.
She retired in June of 2019 to enjoy her yard & traveling, but the person that had taken over diabetes education moved to a different position and Cathy was asked to come back to work part-time.
With covid canceling all of her travel plans, her comment was “I’m only 72 – I might just as well go back to work.”
She will be missed by many family members as well as many friends.
Cathy is survived by her husband Bruce Peterson, brother Brian (Sandra) Childers, sister Judy (Joe) Varick, nieces Eve Millar & her three children: Hadli (Tanner) Freeman & their children: Josi, & Cactus Jack; and Becky (Ben) Reutter & their two boys: Dalton & Cooper; and nephew Toby & his three children: Maddox, Crosby & Jones.
Honorary casket bearers will be Cathy’s great-nieces & great-nephews: Hadli, Josi, Cactus Jack, Dalton, Cooper, Maddox, Crosby, & Jones.
Chamberlain McColley’s Funeral Home of Hot Springs, SD, is in charge of arrangements for Cathy Peterson
Bruce,
So sorry for your loss. Cathy was someone I admired and looked up to and I’m privileged to have known her and to have worked with her. She made an impact and will be missed.