Carol M. Hanson Peterson

Memorial Service 10:30 a.m., Friday, July 11, 2025, at First Lutheran Church, St. Peter, MN. Visitation will be from 9 – 10:30 a.m., Friday at the church. Interment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery, St. Peter, MN. St. Peter Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Carol was born on December 1, 1929 and has been a lifelong resident of St. Peter, MN. She was preceded in death by her siblings: George, Donald and Glen Meyer as well as her husbands: Dr. James O. Hanson and Ellery O. Peterson and one granddaughter, Abby M. Liberty. She passed away peacefully on July 3, 2025 at the age of 95.

Carol was Salutatorian of her SPHS class of 1947. She went to business school in Mankato and then worked for Federated Insurance in Owatonna, Minnesota until she met Jim Hanson. They were married on September 9, 1951 and moved to St. Paul where he was attending Veterinary Medical School. While Jim was busy studying, Carol took a variety of courses: woodblock printing, metal art and one on home design. The latter was her basis for the functionality and storage planned into their home built at 1411 South Washington Avenue in St. Peter.

When Jim finished Veterinary school, they moved back to St. Peter to open his practice. Carol was the Office Manager, Bookkeeper and occasional Surgical Assistant for spays and neuters of cats and dogs. They had four children: Brent, Gayle, Todd and Craig.

Carol was very involved in the League of Women Voters as well as many school and church functions. Her children came first though, so she went from Camp Fire Girl leader to Cub Scout leader to 4-H leader, always finding fun and educational activities for her “troops”. Every summer Carol would have researched and planned the family vacation to whichever city was hosting the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) convention. The station wagon would be packed, an AAA TripTik ordered and a book selected for reading aloud, appropriate to the journey, as they traveled all across the United States with campsites and hotels always selected with swimming pools if possible, to allow the kids to blow off some steam. Car seating was designed to prevent fights: Todd in front between Mom and Dad, Brent in the middle seat which was shared with hang up clothes and such, Craig and Gayle on sleeping bags or blankets in the backend until a third seat became an option.

When Jim retired from active veterinary practice to work at the University of Minnesota in their Veterinary Extension Service in 1968, Carol supported him even though she did not enjoy the time spent in New Brighton as she was quite lonely since she wasn’t working. She spent many a day driving over to Minneapolis to talk with her Aunt Eda about this. No one ever knew this until much later as she was still a mother, driver, creative designer for school projects and cheerleader for all of her children’s sports endeavors.

In 1971, Carol and Jim decided that he would rent an apartment in St. Paul (which was the same one they had rented while he was in school there!) and he would commute up on Sunday night and return on Friday night. The family would remain at 1411 South Washington Avenue. Carol went to work part time for Delta Phi Epsilon and had many wonderful years there working with some dear friends.

Once Jim retired, Carol and Jim continued to travel to AVMA conventions but they would bring two grandchildren along, preferably cousins, to avoid sibling rivalries. Carol even continued this practice after Jim’s death by recruiting one of her children to accompany her on treks to the Dakotas as well as resorts in northern Minnesota.

Carol had been instructed by Jim to remarry when he was gone. She also told her four children almost immediately after Dad’s death in 1998, that she was going to be positive and would likely remarry as she repeated the saying, “smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone”. On January 6, 2001 she married Ellery Peterson. Carol immediately accepted all five of his children as her own as well as his grandchildren. She never missed sending cards and letters for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations or weddings and that became 9 children plus spouses, 24 grandchildren (many with spouses), 29 great grandchildren and three great- great grandchildren.

Ellery loved to travel so Carol and he went all over the world for the next ten years via plane, train, riverboats, cruise lines and automobiles. Towards the end of their travels Carol asked to only go on trips a couple times a year as she was quite happy to be at home at 1411, enjoying the flowers, vegetable gardens and grandchildren’s activities.

When Ellery developed dementia, she remained faithful to him, sharing meals at Ecumen daily. She noticed that many of the people there never had visitors, so she began stopping in to see neighbors and friends there and at the various facilities in town on a regular basis. When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, she continued checking on those persons via phone/cards despite not having much to talk about or share since they were under quarantine.

Carol is survived by: Brent (Diane) Hanson, Gayle (Russ) Olson, Todd (Elsie) Hanson, Craig (Colleen) Hanson, Kristin Kleinke (Tracy Close), Craig Peterson, Carolyn (Tony Van Horn) Schulze, Kathy (Bruce) Wilking, Joel Peterson, and brother in-law Leland Nelson, as well as her many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Carol demonstrated unconditional love and kindness for all. It is our hope that we will continue to do our part to carry on her legacy by doing the same.

In lieu of flowers please send a donation to: First Lutheran Camp Scholarship Endowment, First Lutheran Church, 1114 West Traverse Road, St. Peter, MN 56082 or MVMA James O. Hanson Continuing Education Scholarship, Minnesota Veterinary Medical Foundation, 101 Bridgepoint Way, Suite 100, South St. Paul, MN 55044 - Please indicate the gift is in support of the James O. Hanson Scholarship Fund