Helen I. Peterson

Moline, Illinois
Helen Irene Samuelson Peterson, a 65 year resident of Moline IL and the founding resident of the Molette development, died on April 16th at Illini Restorative Care, just 3 months short of her 102nd birthday. She lived in her home until 3 days before she died. She donated her body to the University of Iowa Medical School, and services will be held in the summer when her descendants in the military return from their deployments.
Helen Irene Samuelson was born July 5, 1910, in New Windsor, Illinois, the daughter of William August and Myrtle (Nelson) Samuelson. She graduated from Geneva High School, and then worked for the Superintendent of Schools in Galva, Illinois, where her family had moved. Beyond high school she was self-educated in shorthand, secretarial skills and business management. Helen married Dale Root Peterson on December 25, 1935, in Galva, after which they moved to Chicago, Illinois. She and Dale were married for 67 years until his death in 2002.
Helen?s life is a story of an independent spirit, a loving and loyal partner to her husband, a gentle mother of her children, and a source of wisdom and humor to all her descendants. Her adventures in her early ?flapper? years were legendary. In 1928 when she was 18, Helen and her friend Jennie set out on a road trip in their Ford Model T from Geneva, Illinois, to New York City, Niagara Falls, and through Canada to Michigan and home.
Helen was, in 1990, declared the longest-living continuous Chicago Cubs fan. She began as a girl writing the play-by-play in shorthand for her father and reporting to him after work. She often attended Cubs games on Ladies Day, when admission was free. Her last time in Wrigley Field was in 1990 with her extended family, where they all watched the Cubs lose. Some things are eternal.
Helen and Dale were partners in Peterson Fixture Company, a refrigeration and food service equipment business, for 53 years until they were both 90 years old. Helen ran the business and Dale did the sales and design services. The whole family participated in the success of the business.
Helen?s descendants include four children, Sheila Dale Fitts, Jack Gordon Peterson, William Manfred Peterson, and Linnea Kathryn Johnson, 14 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, and one great-great grandson. Through her descendants, she left a cloud of witnesses to her wisdom, her kindness, her independent spirit, and her sense of humor. She was preceded in death by her husband, a brother, Nelson Samuelson, a granddaughter, Ginger Meidel, and a great-grandson, Yousef Ashwas.
Her spirit lives on. ?We have this treasure in earthen vessels.?
The family invites you to share stories and condolences and light a candle in Helen?s memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.