Madeline Peterson

Madeline L. Peterson, age 95, of Faribault, passed away on Thursday, November 26, 2009 at the St. Lucas Care Center in Faribault.    Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Faribault, with the Rev. Allan Nelson, officiating. Interment will be at the Maple Lawn Cemetery in Faribault.    Visitation will be held at the church for one hour prior to the services.    Memorials are preferred to Our Savior's Lutheran Church or to the donor's choice.    Arrangements are being completed with the Parker Kohl Funeral Home of Faribault.    Madeline L. Haugen was born in Tracy, Minnesota on December 15, 1913. Her father was John Haugen and her mother was Mollie Hammer. Her father and his family had emigrated from Norway about 1891. Madeline, her parents and her brother, Virgil then moved to Pierre, South Dakota where they lived until her mother died in 1921, when Madeline was eight years old. Because her father was a conductor on the C & NW Railroad, and thus seldom home, Madeline and her brother Virgil, moved back to Tracy and were raised in the home of their grandmother, aunt and uncle. Because the grandmother never learned English, all the family members became fluent in Norwegian.    Madeline graduated from Tracy High School in 1931 and Mankato Commercial College in 1932. She worked in a bakery about two years and then joined the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company as a telephone operator in Tracy. Subsequently, she became Evening Chief Operator in Windom and Chief Operator in Marshall.    During World War II, about 1944, Madeline came to Faribault as Chief Operator, in charge of the large old manual telephone exchange located at Central Avenue and 4th Street above what was then the Olympia Restaurant (now Heartman Insurance). Faribault did not receive automated (dial) telephone service until after World War II.    On September 14, 1947, Madeline married Mr. Edward R. Peterson of Faribault, at First English Lutheran Church. Saint Olaf College Professor William C. Benson officiated. Mr. Peterson managed the old Wilson & Company poultry and meat packing plant for over two decades and later was a representative for what is today Jennie O' Turkey Store, buying several hundred thousand turkeys each year for the largest turkey processor in America. Mr. Peterson died in 1974.    After their son, John, born in 1948, was established in school, Madeline worked in the Admission's Office of Shattuck School for about eight years and in the Acute Hospital pharmacy of the old Faribault State School and Hospital for about thirteen years. She retired in 1978.    Madeline enjoyed her home on 10th Street South West where she lived for thirty five years. She was a charter member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church when it was organized in 1969. She helped start its organization for seniors, known as the Lamplighters. Previously, she was active at First English Lutheran, teaching and serving as a Sunday School officer. She also completed the Bethel Bible Series course there.    Madeline is survived by her son John of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a cousin; a sister-in-law, and by other relatives and friends.    She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband Edward in 1974.