Shirley Peterson, 80, began her new life in Heaven April 21, 2015. She was born to Howard and Shirley Olsen December 30, 1934.

Burien has been her home since moving from Omaha, Nebraska at age 3. Her Daddy built their family home and Shirley’s playhouse on Des Moines Way years before SeaTac Airport was built; the area is now a park.

Shirley Attended Highline High School; her children were Pirates as well. She was a longtime member of Glendale Lutheran Church, where she married Alan "Bud" Peterson May 6, 1952.

She was a "one woman show" at Vince's Pizzeria where she hand-tossed pizzas in the 1950's. While her children were young, she enjoyed cooking at elementary schools in the Highline School District. At family gatherings and while wintering in Arizona, she was known for her love of preparing sourdough pancakes from a treasured family recipe that her parents brought from Alaska.

She enjoyed an occasional casino run where she loved to throw the dice and bet with the house. Some of those rolls were legendary. She will be sweetly missed by all who knew her, including the Friday Lunch Bunch Ladies and fellow Red Hatters. Shirley is survived by her brothers, Keith (Donna) Olsen and Gregg Olsen; children, Mike (Marianne) Peterson, Janet (Jim) Piontkowski and Jerry (Emiley) Peterson; grandchildren, Michael Peterson, Elizabeth (Bill) Sager, Ashley (David) Eichholtz and John Piontkowski; and the delight of her life, great-grandchildren, Emmett, Eden and Harrison Eichholtz. We would like to thank all the wonderful nurses and doctors at Swedish Hospital for their compassionate care.

The graveside service is Tuesday, April 28th, 1:30pm, at Washington Memorial Park, SeaTac; followed by a 2pm reception in the Copperleaf Lounge at Cedarbrook Lodge, 18525 36th Ave. S., SeaTac, Washington.

A celebration of Shirley's life will be held May 31, 2015.
Guestbook: www.bonneywatson.com

Published in The Highline Times Section of The Westside Weekly May 1, 2015