Edith Peterson

Edith Peterson, a resident of Brenham Nursing & Rehab Center, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2019, after a brief illness, following years of living with Alzheimers.

Mattie Edith Slater was born November 24, 1919, in Sibley, Louisiana, to Mattie Mac (Kennon) & Oliver Thornwell Slater. She was the youngest of 4 children in this well-respected simple rural family descended from early American colonial stock (Allen & Kennon). She was a lifelong active member of the United Methodist Church, and a registered Democrat for all her voting life.

Upon graduation from high school, Edith completed a secretarial course at a business school in Shreveport, Louisiana. She then was employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Webster Parish, Louisiana. Two of her earliest purchases as a young adult were a portable Singer sewing machine and a portable Royal typewriter and she was proficient with both. She met (1939) & married (1940) Glenn A. (Pete) Peterson prior to the beginning of World War II. Two children, a girl (1941) and a boy (1942) followed. Pete was called to active duty in the Army and became a decorated officer (Silver Star) in The Battle of the Bulge that ended the war in Europe.

After the war, the Peterson family relocated to Jacksboro, Texas with the US Soil Conservation Service, later transferring with the SCS to Liberty, Anahuac, and Beaumont.

Edith was a devoted stay-at-home housewife/mother until the children were in high school, and then she worked for the Texas Employment Commission (TEC) in Beaumont for about 10 years. When Pete transferred to a US State Department job in The Mekong Delta, during the Vietnam war, Edith left TEC and relocated to Bangkok, Thailand to be closer to Pete. When the Vietnam assignment was completed, the Petersons relocated to Washington, D.C. for several years, until Pete was retired from The US State Department.

In retirement, the Petersons settled on the family farmland on Carancahua Bay where Pete was born & raised in Olivia, TX, a community founded by Swedish immigrants in the 1890's. They enjoyed being back among a very large family of a brother and sisters, and numerous nieces & nephews and cousins and old friends. Pete busied himself with a small herd of cattle, raising a calf crop every year for market, and fishing the bay. Pete died in 1981.

In 1997, at the age of 78, Edith sold the family farmland to a Peterson nephew, to keep it in the family, and she moved to Brenham to be closer to her daughter, taking up residence in a duplex at Kruse Village. She enjoyed active membership in the First Methodist Church, and mentoring children in a reading program at The Early Childhood Learning Center, and managing the weekly bingo games at LaRoche Manor. Edith also enjoyed a good bit of traveling with family and on guided tours over the years as long as she was able. Her last trip, when she was 90, was to return to Washington, D.C. to see the recently completed WWII Memorial on the mall, and to visit the graves in Arlington National Cemetery of her brother and a brother-in-law and their wives.

Edith was a sweet & loving person, steadfast, responsible, good-humored, friendly, generous with her time, & respectful of others. She lived her entire life simply and strictly within the Christian values with which she was raised. She is survived by her daughter, Patricia (Pat) Peterson Aldredge & husband Mike, son, E.G.(Bud) Peterson & husband Miles Glaspy, and daughter-in-law Penny Peterson; her 3 grandsons, Edwin Aldredge & wife Kathy, Marcus Aldredge & wife Betsy, and Preston Peterson & husband David Mansoor; and 3 great grandchildren, Alyssa & Austin & Ginny Aldredge.

Edith will be laid to rest in the Olivia, TX cemetery alongside Pete in the near future.

The family is especially thankful to Smitty Hinners, Edith's dear neighbor in the Kruse Village duplexes, for her faithfully delivering fresh flowers from 1st Methodist's Sunday services for years and years, after Edith was no longer able to attend their Sunday school class and church services. The family also wishes to thank Edith’s caregivers at Brenham Nursing & Rehab Center & Brazos Valley Hospice for their loving comfort care at the end of Edith’s life. In lieu of flowers we suggest donations to the Brazos Valley Hospice, First Methodist Church of Brenham women’s class, the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org), or the Olivia Cemetery Association, c/o Russ Torqusen, 592 Co Rd 311, Pt Lavaca, TX 77979.

Services are in the care of Brenham Memorial Chapel, 2300 Stringer St., Brenham, TX 77833 979.836.3611 Tributes may be shared at www.BrenhamMemorialChapel.com.