Shirley Ann Peterson

Shirley Ann Peterson, 1935 – 2023 

Shirley Ann Peterson, loving and beautiful wife and mother, went to be with the Lord on October 10, 2023, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. She passed peacefully at her home surrounded by her three children and other family members. She was 88. A private burial took place at Eternal Hills on October 17, 2023, with arrangements by Davenport’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd. 

The youngest of five children, Shirley Ann Lugenbeel was born on September 8, 1935 in Perkins, Nebraska, to Fred and Mabel (Deaver) Lugenbeel. At about five years old she moved with her family to Corvallis, Oregon, where her parents both worked and ran a local business. Shirley attended Roosevelt Grade School and Corvallis High School. She and her brother, Freddie, graduated together in 1953. 

During her high school years, Shirley worked at a local movie theater as an usher. One evening when she was working, about five players on the Oregon State University football team came to see the current movie. One of those players, Jack Peterson, caught Shirley’s eye as she was seeing them to their seats. After the movie, as the guys were leaving the theater, one of them turned to Jack and said “Pete, that pretty girl sure has her eye on you, and if you don’t go back there and ask her out, I will!” Without hesitating, Jack turned around and walked back to the theater and asked Shirley for a date. They went steady after that. Jack graduated from Oregon State University in 1954, and they were married on June 12, 1954, at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Corvallis. Shirley’s oldest sister, Helen, was her maid of honor. 

After college, Jack joined the Air Force in 1955 to fulfil his ROTC commitment and they were stationed in Rapid City, South Dakota for two years. After Jack’s honorable discharge in 1957, Jack and Shirley moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where Jack took a teaching and coaching position at Klamath Union High School. Shortly after, they started their family with the birth of daughter Gale (Clark) in 1957, followed by sons Michael in 1959 and Gary in 1961. After realizing they had finally achieved perfection with Gary, they stopped having children. Jack passed away on October 31, 1975, and Shirley lived out the rest of her life in Klamath Falls. 

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Life, Stories, and Memories 

Shirley and her brother Freddie were only a year apart in age, and they went all through school together. This created a special bond between them, but it also made for sibling shenanigans. There was this boy in high school that we’ll call Tom, and he wanted to date Shirley. But she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Tom was always trying to talk to her, and she was always avoiding him. One day, she was at home in the front room reading a book, and she saw Tom walking up the sidewalk towards her house. So she ran and told Freddie that Tom was heading towards their door, and he needed to tell him that she wasn’t home and make him go away. She grabbed her book and an apple and climbed a tree behind the house to hide. Well, when Tom knocked on the door, Freddie brought him to the back door and pointed out Shirley to him. So, she had to climb down and talk to Tom. This made her very angry. Sometime later, when her mom made her iron one of Freddie’s shirts for him, she sewed it closed. It was his favorite shirt that he needed to wear that same day. So Shirley waited to see Freddie try to put it on. Of course he couldn’t put it on, and when he figured out what had happened, Shirley took off like a bullet out the back door. 

* * * 

Shirley often talked about how the house she grew up in in Corvallis was haunted: 

On a summer day when she and her sister Mary were the only ones at home that day, their mom told them to get all their cleaning chores done before she got home from her job at the tavern. Well, Shirley and Mary got to arguing about who was going to do what, and they began to yell at each other. Just then they both heard their dad roll over on the bed in the adjacent room. The box springs on that bed had a distinctive sound, and that’s how they knew. So Mary had Shirley sneak around the corner to their parents’ room to quietly close the door so that their dad could stay sleeping. Their dad had a warehouse job that often required him to sleep during the day, and everyone was supposed to be very quiet when he was home sleeping. So Shirley tip-toed up to their bedroom door and looked in. Their dad was not in there. In fact, he wasn’t home at all. There was nobody else in the house. They ran outside. The problem was that they knew they would get in trouble if they didn’t get their chores done before their mom came home, but they didn’t want to go back inside the house by themselves. So they got the idea to go around and ask the other kids in the neighborhood if they wanted to see the inside of their house. Luckily for them a lot of their friends had never been in their house before, and about half a dozen of them took them up on their offer while Mary and Shirley got the cleaning done. They kept their friends inside the house by bringing out their comic books and toys to keep them busy. 

* * * 

Shirley explained how they came to live in Klamath Falls: 

Jack was in ROTC at Oregon State, so he did his two year commitment in South Dakota at the Air Force base there from 1955 to 1957. So he had to make a decision as to whether he was going to stay in the service or teach school. Well, he really wanted to coach. But he also really considered the service. I told him "I don't care." I really didn't. I was kind of hoping that he would want to choose the school. I didn't like the thought of moving around. Because I decided I was going to start a family when he got done with the service. We got out of the service in May or June of 1957. We stayed in Corvallis with my folks a couple of months while Jack was interviewing. And then he was called and they asked him to come and interview in Klamath Falls. And on the way there I told him "I am not going to live in Klamath Falls." And he'd go "okay." And we'd drive on a little further, and pretty soon I'd say "Jack, I am not going to live in Klamath Falls. That is a very dangerous place and I'm not going to raise a family there." He'd go "okay, well we'll just go and we'll just go to the interview." Oh man this went on. Because see when I was in high school in Corvallis, Klamath Falls had such a bad reputation that it was even creepy when they were coming to our town to play a football game or a basketball game. We thought surely they'd carry their guns and shoot us. I mean like really, the whole school would be like "Klamath Falls is coming." I mean they were big time here. It was scary; we didn't want them at our school. So I had made up my mind that I was not ever going to live in Klamath Falls. But, I don't know how we ended up here. 

* * * 

Once, when Shirley had taken her three kids shopping and they came out of the store to their car, it had a flat tire. She looked around for help, but didn't see anybody. So, she found one part of the jack in the trunk. It was just the main vertical part of a handyman jack, but she thought she could somehow figure it out. By then, another car had pulled up close by with a couple of young men in it, and so she walked up to them holding up the one piece of her incomplete jack and asked "Is this the part that goes under the car?" The two guys looked at her, then at the three kids in the car, then at each other, then back to her and said "Oh, don't worry ma'am, we'll change your tire for you." And they did. 

* * * 

Mom was also quick to take action when needed. In the spring of 1971 when we were in the process of getting ready to move from the Bristol Avenue house to the Summers Lane house, my dad had stopped at the Summers Lane property on his way home from work to take care of our horses. One of the major reasons my parents bought the Summers Lane property was because it had a couple of acres of pasture land where we could keep some horses and a cow or two. Well, on this particular day when Dad was over there feeding the horses, he took a serious fall and hit his head while climbing up to the loft in the barn. He got quite a gash and was knocked out cold. Nobody was with him. At some point he woke up enough to make his way to his Volkswagen Beetle and drive home to the Bristol Avenue house. In the meantime Mom was getting really worried because Dad was much later than usual getting home from work and we had no way to try to contact him. Just as Mom was about to panic, he pulled into the driveway and around to his parking spot behind the house. We could see through the dining room window that when he parked and turned off the car, he just slumped forward unconscious right there in the driver’s seat. He didn’t move at all and his head was bloody. Before we knew it, Mom told the boys to mind Gale and she was going to take Dad to the hospital. Mom afterwards described the drive to the hospital as kind of a nightmare because Dad would wake up and ask where they were going. She would tell him they were going to the hospital because he was hurt. He said he wasn't hurt and would start to open the passenger door while the car was moving. So she had to keep him in the car and not drive off the road. Well, she did finally get him up to the hospital, and he later came home with several stitches and the effects of quite a concussion. It was her quick thinking and action that probably saved his life that day. 

* * * 

Shirley always thought she could figure anything out that she needed to figure out. And, for the most part, that was true, like the time she decided that her house needed a new roof and so she and Mike put a new roof on her house even though neither one of them had any experience doing that before. But sometimes this “figure it out myself” attitude would work against her. About six or seven years ago, maybe in 2016, she was home by herself, and she had a Pepsi 2-liter bottle that she just could not get open. It was very hard for her to use her hands to grip the bottle and twist the cap off due to her rheumatoid arthritis. Well, after trying everything normal that she could think of, and instead of calling somebody to help, she got the bright idea that she should just lay the Pepsi bottle on the kitchen counter and hit the cap off with a hammer. And so she did just that. When the hammer struck the cap end of the bottle and broke the cap off, the bottle immediately became a turbo soda pop rocket. It spun around and took off into the living room, hit the wall, bounced off the couch, and sputtered back into the kitchen. Pepsi was everywhere. Mom said that there was only about an inch of Pepsi left in the remnant of the bottle, and it took her a couple of hours to clean up the mess. From then on, whenever we were over at her house, we didn’t call the hammer a “hammer,” it was now a “bottle opener.” 

* * * 

Shirley was frugal to a fault in most things, but was downright cheap in others. One thing that she skimped on way too much was heating her house during the cold months – because she basically didn’t heat her house. So the family joke went like this: Question – How does Mom keep stuff in her house from freezing? Answer – By putting it in her refrigerator. 

* * * 

Descriptions of Shirley (a.k.a. Mom, Grandma, and GG) from various family members: 

My mother was one of the best people I have ever known in my life. She was generous, kind, funny, and always there for me. It didn’t matter how much or how little she had, if she could help you in any way, she did. If I admired something in her house, chances are it would be going home with me. Or she would say to me “make sure you grab that after I’m gone!” Her support was endless. When I went through the worst time of my life, losing my husband, she was there for me as much as she could possibly be. Yes, she was severely disabled and couldn’t always be there in person, but she was always there in spirit and love. She gave me good advice and helped keep me going through some of my darkest days. And it wasn’t just days, it was years. But she was always there in any way she could possibly be. I will never forget her endless love and support of me and my girls. 

Shirley was a voracious reader until her macular degeneration made it so she couldn’t read anymore. But up until then, she was always reading and learning. She loved reading her several Bibles, writing down passages that gave her strength. She read every kind of book you can think of. As she got older and grew in her faith, she read a lot of Christian books. But she also enjoyed novels, and we often discussed different authors and titles. She really enjoyed going down to the used bookstore and spent hours browsing and coming home with big bags of books. She listened to a lot of sermons on positive words and thinking from her favorite ministers. She was a source of comfort to her children, grandchildren and friends. Anyone that knew Shirley knew that her priority was gaining and sharing the knowledge she had gained, especially with her family. She had faith in God and always wanted to do her part to give to Him. 

In spite of the many trials that she went through, she learned, and she tried to help others avoid some of the difficulties she had to go through. Many people called her or visited her frequently, just so they could get her perspective and help in any kind of difficult situation. Shirley was a strength to those around her, and a fountain of knowledge. 

I admired Mom so much for her deep faith in God. She was unwavering in that faith. No matter how much pain she had, or what she was going through, her faith was always first and foremost. 

Grandma was pretty much my rock growing up all the way up to her last days. She devoted a lot of time to help me with anything I might be going through, took interest in my family, and could shake my attitude when it was in need of an adjustment. She was good at helping others find the good in any situation. When I got pregnant with my daughter, Grandma was the first person to tell me everything was going to be ok. She would say it wasn't about my faults, it was about my recovery and progress. She went on to furnish much of the nursery and made multiple trips to the town where I live. 

I would describe Shirley as independent, survivor, family-oriented, feisty, determined, positive thinker. No matter how much pain she was in because of her rheumatoid arthritis, she continued to take vitamins and herbs, and she fervently believed that our positive thoughts caused the body to heal itself and to improve whatever condition the body was in. She also believed in natural ways to control ailments that the body has to deal with. She healed an ulcer she had by drinking cabbage juice, and she cured a bad case of constipation once by drinking very warm water. 

My Grandma was motivating. When I went over to her house to visit her and was struggling with knowing what to do about a situation, she would give me advice, and share some of her wisdom with me. She told me stories about Grandpa and told me to never give up on my dreams and goals. She taught me that even when life gets hard, I need to keep going so that I can reach my goals. She said, “If you want to reach the moon, reach for the stars instead, and you just might reach the moon.” 

Grandma was like a second mom to me. Her influence has always been huge. Whenever I think of someone who loves me unconditionally, I think of her. I treasured her and wanted to absorb all the time and love I received from her. 

One of the best ways I could describe Grandma is her generosity. No matter how little she had in life she found ways to give to others. Whether it be financial, time, items, or simply be a shoulder to lean on. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for anyone. She would carry $5 bills in her wallet to give to the homeless on street corners. Grandma was also loyal to her family, neighbors, and friends. If she gave her word about something she kept it. She was always there for me when I needed her. 

We loved to have Mom over for fish, especially deep fried cod. That was her favorite. She could eat as much fish as I [her son] could, as long as there was lots of tartar sauce. Our mom was a great mother. She always stood up for us and protected us. I even remember her going to battle with the principal of the elementary school for us. You just didn’t mess with her kids. I will never forget the family reunion in the summer of 2023 where all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren attended – just a few months before she passed. It was a miracle that it came together as it did and everyone could attend. 

Grandma was the kindest, funniest, most loving person in the world. She was beautiful inside and out. She had so much passion for life and for the people in her life. She was generous and would give her last dollar to anyone who needed it. 

Mom was the best mom we could’ve asked for as kids. She raised us well. She taught us to be honest, hard-working, generous, loyal, and kind. How blessed we are to have had her all the years that we did. She really was one of a kind, and her legacy lives on through her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. 

Grandma was courageous and outgoing. Whenever we went grocery shopping, she would greet people and be kind to them. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and let people know how she was feeling about any topic. The most important thing in the world to her was her family and making sure that her family members were doing well and were being successful in their lives. My favorite statement that she shared with me was, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” That statement has always stayed with me. I will miss being able to talk to Grandma and hear the funny stories from her life and the lessons that she learned. I will miss going shopping with her and I will miss going over to her house for family gatherings. 

One thing that she taught me was to pray. She was a firm believer that prayer was a cause of miracles. To fight depression, you needed to always have an “attitude of gratitude.” Even after finding out how ill she was, she continued to strive to have a positive attitude, and be a bright light to those people who came to visit her. One of the toughest things that happened in her life, in the later years, was giving up her independence and having to ask people for help, especially the last few years of her life. 

My favorite memory of my Grandma was when I was a child, I loved simply spending all the time I could to be at her house playing with my cousins. She had an amazing garden that we would spend time in picking and eating vegetables. We would eat plums from her trees, and raspberries. We would play on the swingset for hours and build forts. She would make her famous fried chicken. I had the best childhood because of the time I got to spend with her and at her home.  

Shirley could cook, was musically talented, took violin lessons as a child, and played the piano. She also loved to sing and to dance. She was known quite well in the community for her love of line dancing. I was always surprised at how easily she was able to strike up conversations with almost anyone she met. She began as a stranger, but left as a friend. She had the ability to converse with anyone, in any situation. 

All in all Grandma was an exceptional person. Anyone who came into her path was blessed in one way or another. She was a firm believer in the power of words and imagination. What we think and say have a great impact on our everyday lives. She would go to a store and ask the Lord to show her where the bargains were as well as to have a shopping cart ready next to her parking space as she needed a cart as an aid in balancing and shuffling around. She almost always succeeded in this. Grandma always had a "can-do" attitude. Even through all her pain and limitations she didn't let it stop her from doing what she wanted. 

Growing up, one of my fondest memories is attending line dancing classes with my Grandma. I enjoyed watching her glide across the dance floor. She was so talented even with the fast dances. I loved when she would have a dance to perform at the county fair. She would buy beautiful skirts that flowed to the floor. She was a very beautiful person on the outside as well.  Her smile could light up a room. Add her laughter and she was something to be admired. However, she didn't like having her picture taken. We probably have hundreds of pictures showing her hiding behind someone, putting her hands over her face, or ducking out of the sight of the camera. This is surprising considering she was extremely confident about every other aspect of herself. She didn't care about what anyone else thought. Grandma took pride in everything she had and never took anything for granted. To sum all this up Grandma lived a life of simplicity, yet with extreme gratitude. I know her legacy will live on in her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I only hope to make her proud in all I do. 

Grandma loved shopping, was always looking for the bargain of the day. And of course, often went yard sailing, which was always an adventure. And don’t be late! I especially loved holiday shopping with her. And of course she loved spending time with her family the most. She was never too busy for anyone. Grandma was amazing at cooking! She made the best fried chicken, snickerdoodles, fruit salad with marshmallows, and strawberry rhubarb pie. She was an amazing thrift shopper and an expert at finding bargains. She knew how to make any situation a fun time. And she was a great listener. When I would call Grandma up, I’d say “what are you doing?” She would respond “why, waiting for you to call. Now I can stop holding my breath!” Something else she would always say was “why, yes, of course!” And “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” 

What made Grandma so unique and special was that she did not care what people thought of her at all. She was so confident and sure of who she was. I admire that about her, and I often wondered how she was able to do that. But she was a portrait as someone who truly loved herself and never needed approval from anyone. I think she would like to be remembered as a woman who loved God, most of all, and didn’t worry about her own life. She would want to be a testament of someone who lived her life with faith and prayer, and a passion to know and love Jesus. 

There are so many things I could write about Shirley, but the things that stand out to me are her great attitude about everything and her determination. She had so many “Shirley-isms” that she lived by: *What you dwell on increases *Your words come back to you *Your thoughts determine your outcomes *Cayenne pepper cures colds *Apple cider vinegar helps all things *Epsom salt draws out infections *Honey is the best poultice *All is well. She had a love for Christ, an unwavering faith, even in the toughest situations. She always stood up for what she believed in, even if it wasn’t popular. Her family was the most important thing to her. I am most appreciative to her for raising the man that became my husband and father of our children. He is the greatest blessing in my life. He is an honorable hard working, loving husband, father and grandfather, and for that I will always be grateful to Shirley. She raised three wonderful children who have become family to me and because of that I am truly blessed. 

I would describe Grandma as being the life of the party, the reason everyone got together. We always gathered with her at holidays or camping or outings. She was the person everyone gravitated toward because of her stories and sense of humor. And she was always finding humor in situations or people. She would never condemn a person or excuse bad behavior. Grandma could talk to anyone and make them feel comfortable. I'll always be grateful for the long conversation I had with her on the phone just weeks before she passed. My favorite memory is when she told me the story about meeting Grandpa Jack. I was completely enthralled. 

I loved that Grandma’s home was cozy, that she was fun to be around, that she would make fruit salad for Thanksgiving, that she facilitated family gatherings, and that she was funny and easy to talk to. She was always a constant in my life. She always lived in the same place, always encouraged, always had something to say about everything there was, and always had something to say to make people laugh. She was especially good at saving money and being thrifty. But when she sold things, they were good prices and in good condition. She used things really well and tried not to let anything go to waste. She was good at being positive. I learned a lot from her in high school about making goals and thinking positively, and I think it really influenced my college years for good. 

Mom was one of the funniest people I have ever known. Playing games with her was always a blast. One of our favorite family games to play was Pit, where she absolutely commanded the table, telling everyone to “quickly quickly” exchange cards with her. When something funny would strike her she would laugh so hard that she would have to run to the bathroom so as not to wet her pants. 

Shirley had a great sense of humor, loved playing cards and other games. At one time she especially loved the game Hand and Foot. Her positive attitude and sense of humor will be missed. She always tried to see the positive side of any situation, and tried very hard to never feel sorry for herself, even though she had been in overwhelming pain in many forms for decades. 

My mom was the most beautiful mom of all the moms of all of my friends. She always put her family and children first. Growing up, one of her best dinners was her fried chicken. I admit that I took it for granted. At the holidays she almost always made her famous peanut butter fudge. And her fruit salad was legendary at Thanksgiving. 

Our Mom could talk to anybody. She taught us that we should always greet people with a smile, even if it was someone who didn’t like us. When she first went to work at Penney's, she had a co-worker named Nan. And Nan was a supervisor and wouldn't even hardly acknowledge that Shirley existed because Shirley was a new lowly cashier. And Mom would come home from work night after night and tell us about this at the dinner table. But she always said that every day at work when she first saw Nan, she would smile at her and say “hi.” Nan would just ignore her. This went on for a couple of months, day in and day out. Finally, one day, Mom walked by Nan and smiled and said “hi” as usual, and Nan finally gave in and smiled back and said “hi.” After that they became friends and worked together for several years. 

Grandma was most proud of her family. Every time we came over she would talk about someone in the family or their kids or how well they were doing at this or that or how they were just good kids. She loved her family and wanted everyone to do well. She put on a brave face even though she was hurting in lots of ways. She wasn't ever a complainer. How would she want to be remembered? Not with her picture! She never wanted her picture taken, but thankfully she obliged now and then and we snuck some too. My Grandma was a go-getter, a fierce lover of family and God, and an adventurous and kind person. She didn't ever, that I can remember, focus on herself. She wanted to talk to, be around, cheer for, and take pride in her family.  

Who was Grandma Peterson to me? She was an inspiring woman who never complained, no matter how tough or painful a situation became. And even though she was constantly in pain, she never complained or told people how much pain she was in. She is one of the most caring, wise, and inspirational people I know, and I miss her terribly, but I am happy that she isn’t in pain anymore. Thank you Grandma for all of the good times we shared together. I will always remember all of the lessons that you taught me. You are amazing! 

* * * 

Gary tells the following three stories: 

My favorite memory and of Mom was the time Darlean and I took her fishing to Gerber Reservoir in her old boat. We fished until dark and the last hour of the day was unbelievable croppie fishing. We started by fishing with various colored jigs, and mom asked if I had a yellow jig, but I did not have one. Not too long after that, Mom flipped her jig out and actually hooked another jig in the eye that someone else had lost and brought in what turned out to be a yellow croppie jig. By the end of the night Darlean and Mom had rats nest in their reels, and only had about five feet of line to work with. They were just putting their lines over the side of the boat and catching croppie one after another. I stopped fishing and just took fish off of lines, and put them on the stringer. We came home to Mom’s house and cleaned the fish. It turned out we had 90 croppie.  Mom never forgot this and talked about it frequently. 

Mom was very impatient and this seemed to get worse with age, however, it led to some funny stories. At various times, Dick Barlow would come over and help with handyman type of stuff at her house, and this really impressed Mom. She came to see Dick as a kind of miracle worker when it came to household repairs. Well, toward the end, Mike and I were working on an electrical wiring problem in her house, and after 15 minutes or so she decided it would be a really good idea to call Dick Barlow. So, as we are trying to figure out the elusive electrical problem, she keeps yelling from her hospital bed “why don’t you call Dick Barlow? You should call Dick Barlow!” At the time it was a little frustrating but looking back it’s very comical. So now, whenever we encounter any situation that doesn’t have an immediate solution, we just look at each other and one of us inevitably says “Call Dick Barlow!” 

When we were kids, our parents would often take us all camping. Mom was one of those people that had to pee several times a night when camping, and we didn’t have any kind of a bathroom or port-a-potty. So Mom just used an empty 5-pound Folger’s coffee can to pee in at night instead of going outside. On one of our camping trips to Diamond Lake, a couple of hours after it was completely dark and everyone was either asleep or dozing in their sleeping bags, we heard the unmistakable tinkling of Mom peeing into her coffee can. Then, out of the pitch black darkness, we clearly heard my Dad in a faint, wavering, ghostlike voice: “There’s a bear in here.” Then, higher pitch and a bit louder: “There’s a bear in here!” Even higher and louder still: “There’s a BEAR IN HERE!!!” Then very loudly: “THERE’S A BARE BUTT IN HERE!!!!!” It took us kids at least ten minutes to stop laughing and go back to sleep. 

* * * 

Mike remembers the next few items: 

My mom has an amazing super power. When her kids misbehaved (usually Gary, almost never me), she could be really angry and yell, I mean, just really let him have it. But invariably, while he was getting his severe tongue lashing, the phone would ring. And this is her super power: She had the ability to immediately, completely change her voice from that of a rabid drill sergeant chewing a recruit up one side and down the other, to being a heavenly cherub, complete with full choir melodic voice and speak the most wonderful, friendly, musical "hello" ever spoken in the history of mankind when she picked up the phone. And this happened instantly every time she answered the phone while hollering at one of us kids. I witnessed this dozens of times from an early age and I was always in awe of this super power. 

One Thursday Fall evening, after an especially exhausting day at work at the Maywood plant, Mom came home and was just completely and utterly exhausted. I was the only other one at home at the time. She took a shower, put her hair up in curlers, and told me she was going to bed early. It was dark already, and she just wanted to go to sleep. I told her that a couple of my friends were coming over to get me and I would be out with them for a few hours. "Okay, just knock on my door when you leave so I know when you head out." Well, about an hour later, my friends showed up, so I knocked on Mom’s bedroom door. No response. I knocked again. "Mike?" "Yes Mom, it's me, I'm heading out now." "What time is it??" a raised panicky voice returned. "Seven forty five." Boom! Her door flew open. "MIKE, CALL THE PLANT RIGHT NOW!" Then she reached at her hair and began ripping out each of the curlers she had carefully put in just a couple hours before. I stood there, completely dumbfounded at what I was witnessing. There were curlers all over the floor, and they still had shreds of hair in them. Still yanking the curlers out, Mom saw that I wasn't doing anything, and so yelled again at me "MIKE! YOU DO WHAT I SAY AND CALL THE PLANT RIGHT NOW AND TELL THEM I SLEPT IN AND WILL BE THERE IN TEN MINUTES!!!!” I answered "okay, I can call the plant, but nobody's going to answer because nobody’s there." "WHAT??" "Well, it's seven forty five at night. You've only been sleeping for an hour." She stood there for about a minute before it all dawned on her. Without saying a word, she picked up her curlers and went back to bed. 

One of my mom’s favorite songs was “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” by B.J. Thomas. While we were still living on Bristol Avenue, she and my dad went and watched the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the theater. Well, my mom was so impressed with the song from the movie, she went and got the 45 record the next day. Then, every morning for a couple of months, when it was time to wake us kids up, she would put that record on her stereo and play it as loud as she could. She loved that song because of its message of facing life head on and not complaining. She always tried to live this herself and worked to instill it in her children. We all witnessed her still living this at age 88 right up until her passing. 

* * * 

From Gale: 

I recently had lunch with two friends to celebrate our birthdays. My friend Kathy wanted to pay for all three of us, but my other friend Michal protested. Immediately I popped out with “just shut up and say thank you!” The second I said that I knew I sounded just like Mom. That is something she said very often: If someone offers you something, you should just have gratitude and be thankful. Gratitude was something she taught all of us. If we complained about the price of food she would tell us to be grateful that we could even afford to buy it. She believed in keeping gratitude journals and often gave them as gifts. 

Mom loved to dance and was very good at it. She was graceful and could learn any dance very easily. She was also a good cook, and made the best fried chicken of anybody I have ever known. I tried over and over to make it like she did, but just couldn’t get it the same as Mom. Finally, my husband Doug said to me “I am sorry, but it is just not like your mom’s.” 

If you knew Mom at all, you would know how important words were to her. The power of words was something she lived by. What you said determined your life‘s path. She did spend a lot of time correcting us, and sometimes it was annoying, but she was right. Through her words, in spite of her disability, she almost never had to see a doctor. She would simply say “I am claiming healing.” If she needed a parking space close to the store, she would say “I will find a space right up front.” And she always did. If she was shopping for a particular thing she would say “I am going to find it and soon.” And she always did. 

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Shirley Ann Peterson is survived by her three children and spouses: Gale Clark, Michael and Mary (Shane) Peterson, and Gary and Darlean (Camaille) Peterson; by her 7 grandchildren and spouses: Shanna Belz (Chris), Erin Raymond (Chase), Lindsay Knox (Kelly), Brian Peterson (Tia), Kirsten Culverwell (Chas), Jack Peterson, and Camilla Peterson; and by her 15 great grandchildren: Allie Belz, Joshua Belz, Blake Raymond, Brooklyn Raymond, Violet Knox, Lydia Knox, Wyatt Peterson, Emma Peterson, Eilee Peterson, Norah Peterson, Charles Culverwell, Amelia Culverwell, Matthew Culverwell, William Culverwell, and Rachel Culverwell. 

She was preceded in death by her parents Fred and Mabel Lugenbeel, her husband Jack Peterson, her son-in-law Doug Clark; sisters and spouses: Helen Morrison (Frank), Patty Harper (Paul), Mary Hoxie (Jack), and brother Fred Lugenbeel. 

Any contributions in memory of Shirley Peterson would be greatly appreciated by the family and may be made to the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank. Online at: www.klamathfoodbank.org   or by postal mail to: PO Box 317, Klamath Falls, OR 97601. 

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