RUBY JOYCE PETERSON, age 89 of Waterville, died on Friday, December 26, 2014 at the Waterville Good Samaritan Center.

Born in Bruno, Minnesota on May 21, 1925, Joyce was the daughter of Rudolph and Clara (Lindevall) Lund.  She attended grade school in Mankato and in Minneapolis before graduating from North High School in Minneapolis.  She married Elmer J. “Pete” Peterson on June 3, 1953 in Minneapolis.  Over the years, Joyce and her husband owned and operated several businesses, including a beauty salon in Minnetonka, the Sportsman’s Bar in Waterville, and the Sterling Motor Lodge Motel in Sterling, CO.  Joyce had a great love of music, and was always singing.  As a younger woman she sang bass in the Sterling, CO chapter of the Sweet Adelines for 25 years.  She was also a former member of the VFW Auxiliary in Sterling.  She loved to travel and had visited Europe, Hawaii, and countless other locations throughout her life.

Joyce is survived by one daughter, Cheryl Fitzloff of St. Clair; one sister, Sandy (Brooks) Bergersen of Minneapolis; four grandchildren, Nathan (Anne) Paulson, Matthew (Sam) Fredenburg, Mandy (Charlie) Freitag, and Ryan (Laura) Fitzloff; one son-in-law, Richard Fitzloff of St. Clair; sixteen great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; one nephew, Tim Bergersen; one niece, Brenda Rhone; and five great nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by both of her parents; one brother, Rudolph Lund, Jr.; her husband, Elmer “Pete” Peterson; one son, Richard Peterson; one daughter, Debra Paulson; and one grandson, Lee Paulson.

A private family interment service will take place at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis at a later date. 

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