Kari J. Peitersen
BATTLE CREEK Mich. — On July 19, 2019, Kari J. Peitersen, loving mother and grandmother, passed away suddenly after a very recent diagnosis of stage IV cancer in Battle Creek, Mich. Kari was born in Buffalo, Wyo., on Aug. 19, 1950, the fourth of Professor Dana and Helen Peitersen’s five children. She grew up playing flute in her father’s university orchestra in Colorado alongside his students and graduated from Sheridan High School in Sheridan, Wyo., in 1968. Kari moved to Gladstone in 1978 and held a 50 year commitment to spreading love and joy through her many jobs in the area. For the last eight years, Kari was the person who woke up at 4 a.m. every morning to make your day a little brighter with coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and a smile from Holiday Gas Station in Gladstone. Kari’s number one priority was her family, and that included everyone who walked through her front door. Her home was a safe haven for anyone and everyone for over 30 years — the number of those who called her “mom” and “grandma’ is too long to list; those most important to her were her son, Ken, and daughter-in-law, Susie; her daughter, Jenni: and her grandsons, Elijah and Charlie.
Kari was preceded in death by her father, Dana N. Peitersen; her mother, Helen A. (Davison) Peitersen: her sister, Janet Peitersen.
She is survived by her brother, Donald (Karen) Peitersen; her sisters, Carol (Robert) Peitersen-Harriet and Bette Peitersen; her son, Ken (Sue) Haswell; her daughter, Jennifer Haswell; her grandsons, Elijah and Charlie Haswell; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held in Battle Creek, Mich., on Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. with visitation from 4 to 6 p.m. at Baxter Funeral Home and in Gladstone on Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. at All Saints Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks all to extend an act of kindness to a neighbor, friend, or stranger in Kari’s honor.