Obituary of Delphine Peterson

PETERSON DELPHINE

Delphine Mae Peterson, age 85 of Yankton, SD passed away unexpectedly Monday, March 18, 2024 at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, SD.  Funeral services will be 10:30 AM, Friday, March 22, 2024 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Yankton, SD with Rev. Michael Jordan officiating.  Burial will be in the Garden of Memories, Yankton, SD.  Visitations will be 5 to 7 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2024 at the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory, Yankton, SD and then one hour prior to the service at the church.  Online condolences may be sent at: www.opsahl-kostelfuneralhome.com.  Live streaming of Delphine’s service can be found at: https://my.gather.app/remember/delphine-peterson.

Delphine was born to Alma and Gottlieb Herman on June 14, 1938. She grew up on the family farm outside of Kulm in Lamour County, North Dakota, and attended Kulm public school, graduating in 1956. After graduation, she attended the University of North Dakota and graduated with a degree in education. She had a lifelong love of music and played multiple instruments, including the piano, accordion, and saxophone. She played piano for several choirs and churches in Kulm, Yankton, and Weslaco, TX.

She was a business teacher at Yankton Senior High School and met Lawrence (Pete) Peterson on a blind date set up by her roommate, Peggy, in fall of 1962. By August of 1963, they were married. Lawrence was one of four boys and Delphine was welcomed with open arms as the daughter and sister they never had by the Peterson family. Del and Pete enjoyed travel, hunting, and visiting family for several years before welcoming their first child, Julie, on June 14, 1967. They had already made plans to move to Alaska, so Lawrence set off to find an apartment and Delphine and Julie joined him in the fall of 1968. On October 6, 1970, they added another family member, their second daughter, Pamela. Lawrence got a new job on Kodiak Island and the family moved on to another adventure.

In 1974, they made the decision to move back to South Dakota. Del liked to tease Pete that they made plans to move to the southwest but he had to stop and see his mom. They never left. Delphine was a stay at home mom until the girls were both in school and then returned to work at the high school in the attendance office. She worked there and as a teacher for night school students getting their GED. She also was proud of how she taught students with disabilities how to type. Lawrence became ill with cancer in 1998 and Delphine took early retirement to care for him.

Lawrence passed away in October of 2001 and Delphine stayed true to their love and never remarried. Instead she became a snow bird and would travel each fall to Weslaco, TX, to enjoy the sun and travel with friends. Down south she enjoyed playing dominos and cards with friends. In Yankton, she could often be found at the Senior Center fiercely competing in card games and bingo. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church for almost 50 years and enjoyed attending services and volunteering.

While she had to wait longer than she wanted, she finally welcomed two grandsons within two weeks of each other in 2008 and spent many years spoiling them and bragging about their exploits in baseball and hockey. She finally sold her “down south” house in the spring of 2023 and was looking forward to moving into a senior apartment so she could be closer to the social scene. Christ had other plans for her and called her home.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Alma Herman-Grote and Gottlieb Herman, her spouse of 38 years, Lawrence Peterson, her in-laws Oscar and Ann Peterson, and brother-in-laws, Jerry Dean and Jack Peterson. She will be missed by her surviving daughters and their families, Julie and Stuart Lehto and their son, Oskari, and Pamela and Brad Haugen, and their son Torston.  She is also survived by her brother-in-law, Glen Peterson, and multiple nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.