Hazel Frances Peterson was born on March 25, 1908, on her parents’ homestead in Poplar, Wis., and died on Nov. 1, 2002, at Thornecrest Retirement Center in Albert Lea.

Her parents were Peter A. Peterson and Anna M. Johnson Peterson.

Hazel graduated from East High School in Superior, Wis., and was valedictorian of her class.

She began her college work at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, where she met her future husband.

She received a bachelor of theology degree from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1938.

Hazel Peterson was married to Glenn A. P. Peterson, a Baptist minister, from Sept. 1, 1934, until his death on May 26, 1988.

During World War II, Hazel Peterson served as interim pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlantic, Iowa, while her husband was overseas as an Army Air Force chaplain.

She was a secretary at Sioux Falls College in Sioux Falls, S.D., for a number of years until 1965.

After 1965 she worked as a temporary secretary at various businesses in Memphis, Tenn., until her husband’s retirement in 1977.

In Albert Lea she was a volunteer at the blood bank.

From 1978 until her death, Hazel Peterson lived at Thornecrest Retirement Center in Albert Lea.

She found good friends at Thornecrest and at Calvary Baptist Church, where she was a member.

Her favorite spot in Minnesota was Myre-Big Island State Park.

Hazel’s sister Gladys, her parents, her husband, and her brothers Walter, Clifford, Alfred, and Herbert died before her.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Irvine and Sipporia Peterson of Poplar; her sister-in-law Ruth Peterson of Minneapolis; her son Garth of Sioux Falls; her daughter Glenda Peters of Chicago; her grandson Hamilton A. Baer of Milford, Ohio; her granddaughter Anne Baer of Sun Valley, Idaho; five nephews; and five nieces.

The funeral service will be held at the Mission Covenant Church in Poplar at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made to a charity of your choice.