Petersen, Elizabeth Jane Pappas (1912-1997)

PETERSEN, PAPPAS, HARRIS, SCHMELZER, MICKELSON, JOHNSON, MACHOVEC, SVEBEK

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 8/27/2024 at 15:38:31

Daily Freeman Journal
Webster City, Iowa
Monday, August 25, 1997

Elizabeth Petersen, 84, of Webster City died Saturday, Aug. 23, 1997 at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Webster City, with Rev. Don Ripley officiating. Burial will be at Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be at Foster Funeral Home, from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday and at the church after 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Elizabeth Jane Pappas, the daughter of Joseph and Anna Harris Pappas, was born Oct. 14, 1912 at Chicago, Ill. She graduated from Bowen High School in Chicago and also attended a Chicago business school. She worked as a payroll clerk for J.R. Raklios Restaurants and was statistical secretary for the engineering department of Mutual Liability Insurance company, both in Chicago.

On Feb. 21, 1936, she married Graydon Leroy Petersen at Crownpoint, Ind. The couple moved to Webster City in 1946. She assisted her husband in the operation of the Minute Cafe for 16 years, worked at Decorators Workshop in Fort Dodge, and managed the "As You Like It" gift shop for four years, worked at Bacon's Gifts for five years and was a part-time receptionist and secretary at Foster Funeral Home for 12 years. She was preceded in death by her husband in January 1974.

Mrs. Petersen is survived by: one son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Sharon Petersen, Plano, Texas; one daughter and son-in-law, Louise and Ed Schmelzer, Arlington, Va.; grandchildren, Matthew Mickelson, Kristin Johnson, Rachel Machovec, Kelly Svebek and Thomas Petersen; great grandchildren, Carlie and McKenzie Svebek.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents and son-in-law, William Mickelson.

Mrs. Petersen was a member of the First Baptist Church, where she served as a Deaconess, an adult Sunday school teacher, the Women's Fellowship, various church committees, also the Webster City Women's Club and the Literacy Plus Program.