LaDonna June Peterson
Published 10:43 am Wednesday, June 19, 2013
LaDonna June Peterson died at the Kahl Nursing Home in Davenport, Iowa, on May 29, 2013. Per her wishes, LaDonna was cremated. There will be graveside services at Grand View Cemetery in Austin, Minn., Saturday, June 22, at 2 p.m.
LaDonna, one of 10 children born to Sanford and Leona Peterson, was born in 1933 on a farm near Austin. She attended Austin schools and graduated from Austin Central High School in 1951. She went to Washington, D.C., two weeks after graduation to work in the executive office of the Secretary of the Navy.
In January 1953, she moved to Los Angeles, Calif., and worked in the private sector. Then in June 1954, she was asked if she would be interested in working for the Dept. of Army in Europe. She accepted and went to Heidelberg, Germany, and worked as the secretary to the officer that headed European chemical warfare section. She loved to travel and did travel to most of Europe while living in Germany.
She then returned to Los Angeles to work in the private sector again until 1960. She then was offered a position with the State Dept in Lagos, Nigeria, where she worked for the State Department’s Agency for International Development.
Her love of the southern California weather drew her back to Los Angeles. She worked for several companies until she decided to get a college education. She received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 2 1/2 years at Cal State.
She then worked for a couple companies until she took a job at The Ben Holt Company. This was a geo thermal engineering company which ended up being part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. She retired in 1999 as vice president, treasurer and secretary of the Ben Holt Company.
LaDonna became ill and moved to Davenport, Iowa, in 2012 to be near family. LaDonna was loved by many and will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.
Those left to honor her memory include her sisters, Dorothy (Jim) Osmonson of Austin, Sharon (Duane) Hauge of Glenville, Minn.; brother, Robert (Tina) Peterson of Davenport, Iowa; sister-in-law Donna Peterson of Burnsville, Minn.; brother-in-law Bill Meier of Los Angeles, Calif; and many nieces and nephews who all loved her very much. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Maxine Thompson, and Ilene Meier; and brothers, Merle, Donald, Floyd Laverne and Douglas. Online condolences may be expressed to LaDonna’s family by visiting her obituary at www.WeertsFh.com.