Mary Alice Petersen

Born to serve, Mary Alice Petersen died on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Mary Alice was born March 21, 1938, the daughter of Hans and Alice (Jensen) Nyboe. She attended Fratt Elementary, McKinley Junior High and Park High School in Racine, graduating in 1956. On August 23, 1958 at Bethania Lutheran Church she was united in marriage to LeRoy E. Petersen. She attended St Luke’s School of Nursing graduating in 1959. She later pursued a certification in Clinical Pastoral Education in 1990 and received a degree as Parish Nurse in 1994 from Marquette University. As wife, mother, sister, aunt and grandmother; along with LeRoy, her husband of 52 years, she made her family a priority. Mary Alice was a woman of many talents. She was warm, friendly, fun-loving and always had time for her family who had her unconditional support. She loved flowers and gardening and that passion followed her to her last days as she enjoyed this spring. A registered nurse, Mary Alice worked for over five decades at St. Luke’s Hospital and All Saints Hospital. She began as an aid in 1956 and served as a nurse and nurse manager until 2000 when she formally retired from the All Saints Health Care System; however, she continued to work part time thereafter until 2007. Mary Alice was a quintessential caregiver, comforting and compassionately serving many throughout her career. As a lifelong, second generation member, she was integrally involved in her church, Bethania Lutheran, as a leader and parish nurse. Among her many service activities she was recently an active member of Retired Inactive Nurses Group (RING)of Racine, served as parish nurse, pastoral and spiritual caregiver at Bethania Lutheran Church, and mentored students at San Juan Diego Middle School. She is survived by her husband, LeRoy; their five children, Mark (Melissa) Petersen of Franksville, Kathy (Mark) Kramer of Brookfield, Lisa Petersen of Santa Clara, CA, Krista Berger of Racine, and Erik (Pam) Petersen of Franksville; her five grandchildren who affectionately referred to her as “Gram” – Brian Petersen, Hannah and Sam Kramer, Lauryn and Ryan Berger;her sister Kathy (Rich) Christensen of Sturtevant; three nieces and one nephew – Tracy Christensen, Julie (Jon) Hansen, JoAnn (James) Weishan , and David Christensen. Preceding her in death were her parents Hans M. Nyboe and Alice E. (Jensen) Nyboe. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at Bethania Lutheran Church with Rev. Steve Wolhfeil officiating. Visitations will be at church Friday evening from 5-8pm, and Saturday beginning at 9am. Private committal services will be held at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The family requests that in lieu of gifts, donations be made to: Racine Nurses Foundation P.O. Box 323, Franksville, WI 53126, or Latino Ministries c/o Emmaus Lutheran Church, 1925 Summit Ave., Racine, WI 53404. The family would especially like to thank Dr. Jim Simonds Dr. Mark Choi, and the staffs at WFHC-All Saints Cancer Center, and Hospice Alliance for Mary Alice’s excellent care.