The world lost one of the kindest souls on September 19^th, 2015 with the peaceful passing of Christine Mae Peterson, 57, of Gays Mills, WI. She spent her final month of life at the Bland Bekkedal Center for Hospice Care in Viroqua, WI. Christine was born on May 9^th, 1958 to Jean (Hoilien) and Clarence Peterson in Viroqua, WI and was a member of the Viroqua High School class of 1976.

Christine’s greatest passion in life was spending time with her family and, most significantly, her grandchildren. She recently became a grandmother aka “Meemah,” named by her first grandchild, for the second time and was enjoying every minute of the precious moments she had left with them. She enjoyed letting her grandson climb all over her, snuggling while watching Teletubbies and playing with his toys.

In her youth, Christine, was a stellar athlete who enjoyed beating boys in sports, sending them home in tears, and being picked first every time. More recently, she was an avid packer fan, hockey supporter, and ringette coach. She too was a devoted movie admirer, who could often be caught imitating characters or bellowing out lines from her favorite flicks. Christine was also animal lover who loved spending time with her pets: Armand Goldman, Captain Jack, Magellan Templetin Barbosa Mertz, and grand-dog Eddie.

Christine felt most comfortable surrounded by nature and would spend hours outdoors working in her gardens or simply staring at the sky or into the woods, just soaking it all in. She was often known to her friends and family as; a landscape artist, plant stroker, morel hunter, wreath maker, fire starter, weather watcher, bird observer, and nature nurturer. Those closest to Christine also knew of her love for food and could refer to her as: the lefse queen, diet coke chugger, French fry/ tarter sauce connoisseur, and potato salad expert.

Those who had the pleasure of meeting Christine would also recognize her uniqueness and creativity. She was very passionate about creating art, and writing poetry. She and her partner created beautiful botanical prints with plants and flowers directly from their many impressive gardens.

She touched so many lives and will be truly missed by her friends and surviving family; partner Chela Mertz , two children Brett Ostrem(Leonie Storbakken), and Tracy (Jason) Trahan, two grandchildren Israel Ostrem and Sawyer Trahan , her mother Jean Peterson , her brother-in-law Arnie Erickson, and three siblings; brother Ronald (Pat) Johnson, sister Carol Peterson and brother Chuck (Julie) Peterson, and 8 nieces and nephews Keith ( Dawn) Erickson, Karl Erickson, Brenda (Jesse) Ray, Erik Johnson , Ryan Johnson, Christopher Freiseis, Ava Freiseis ,and Hannah Peterson. She was preceded in death by her father Clarence Peterson, sister Cindy Erickson and brother-in-law Ernie Lubbe.

We would like to thank all of the compassionate friends and family who supported Christine through this last year. We would also like to recognize the incredibly supportive staff at the Bland Bekkedal Center for Hospice Care who helped all of us through this difficult time. We couldn’t have asked for a kinder group of people to help her through her final journey and truly appreciate each and every one of you.

A Celebration of Life Ceremony will be held at the New Community Center in Gays Mills, WI on Sunday October, 25^th from 1-4pm. The family kindly requests that memorials are made out to Tracy Trahan and donations made to the Bland Bekkedal Center for Hospice Care in Viroqua, WI. Coulee Region Cremation Group is assisting the family.

“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness” – John Muir