Kathy graduated from Augustana College with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1965. She received her Master of Arts in Education from Western Illinois University in 1995. She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years, teaching in the Moline District from 1965 to 1970; and teaching for the Rock Island Milan Public Schools from 1978 until her retirement in 2003.
She was a member of St. James Lutheran Church, Rock Island, was active in the Chi Omega Gamma Sorority at Augustana College, serving as secretary and president, and was a member of the National Education Association, as well as the Illinois and Rock Island Education Associations. Kathy served as secretary of the 708 Mental Health Board of Rock Island County and had served as secretary and president of the Alpha Delta Kappa education sorority.
Survivors include her children and their families, Timothy J. Petersen and his wife, Suzanne, and their children, Gabrielle, Elijah and Isaiah, Mascoutah, IL; Todd H. Petersen and his wife, Abigail Burke, and their children, Zoe and Terren Hayden, Omaha, NB; Michael A. Petersen and his wife, Susan, and their children, Kathryn and Frances, Evanston, IL; Elizabeth A. Gylling and her husband, Bjorn, and their children, Annika, Bo, and Tora, Hasselby, Sweden; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Vicki L. and James K. Peterson, Moline; nephew, Terren J. Peterson and his children, Kaya and Sanna, Richmond, VA, and a niece, Penelyn A. Peterson, Morgantown, WV.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; and her nephew's wife, Christy Peterson.
Online condolences may be left at www.wheelanpressly.com.
Published in the Quad-City Times on Jul. 7, 2008.
