Mildred “Millie” Jorgensen Peterson of Redwood Falls, giving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend, born December 18, 1917 went home to heaven on August 28, 2013 at the age of 95.

A private celebration of Millie’s life will be held with interment at Crestlawn Memorial Garden in Redwood Falls. She is now at home with the Lord for all eternity. Redwood Valley Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Millie was born to Christen and Katheryn Anderson on a farm in De Smet, SD as the youngest of seven children. She started working at the age of 12 to help the family through the great depression. She married Jens Jorgensen in 1936 and together they had one daughter, Linda, born in 1946. The family moved to Redwood Falls in 1951, and after Jim was killed in a car accident in 1965 Millie worked as a teller at Minnwest Bank and then managed the Mode O Day dress shop in Redwood Falls. She also took in two young women, Judy Munson and Jan Galstad, as renters and they became life-long friends who Millie considered “additional daughters”.

In 1971 Millie married Ed Peterson and moved to River Falls, WI where Millie opened and ran the Peterson Town Dress Shoppe until they sold it and came back to Redwood Falls for their retirement, spending winters in Arizona. Millie was selected as Business Person of the Year by the River Falls Chamber of Commerce. They moved to Garnette Gardens in 2012 and Millie went to Gil-Mor Manor in July 2013. She suffered a stroke on August 23 and entered heaven from North Memorial Hospital on August 28. Her daughter Linda was at her side.
Millie is preceded in death by her first husband Jens and her five brothers: Lawrence, Frank, Fred, Harry, and Chris, and her one sister Margaret. She is survived by husband Edward, daughter Linda Jorgensen Peterson (Jerry) of Plymouth, granddaughter Melissa Fowler (Layne) of Spartenburg, SC, and three great grandchildren: Will, Colton, and Samantha.

Millie was an avid card player who played serious bridge when younger and would play hearts, golf or any other card game for hours throughout her life. She also loved Scrabble and again would play for hours on end. Millie was also an incredible reader and read countless books as well as the newspaper every day despite the failing of her memory in recent years. She would recite poetry from her childhood (every verse) right up to the end.

Millie will be deeply missed for her positive attitude that always saw the glass half full, her feisty spirit, the sparkle in her eyes and warm smile when she saw you, her quick wit and sense of humor, but most of all for her unselfish kindness and unconditional love for everyone. She always thought about others first, even donating her eyes for research at age 95. She saw the good in everyone and treated them with grace. She was a gentle and special lady.
The family is forever grateful for the care of Joanne Walker as well as the caring and compassionate staff at Garnette Gardens Memory Care, Gil-Mor Manor in Morgan, and the Redwood Area and North Memorial Hospitals.