Claudette Louise Peterson Obituary (1942

Claudette Louise (Villwock) Peterson, 77, of Huxley passed away on Sunday, April 12, 2020 at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines after a short battle with cancer. A Celebration of Life will be held at a future date to be determined. She will be cremated. Fredregill Funeral & Cremation Care in Polk City, Iowa is handling arrangements. Claudette was born on October 20, 1942 in Rochester, MN, to John and Naomi (Dickmann) Villwock. She attended Ames High School. On August 20, 1960, she married LeRoy Peterson of Huxley. They had four children, Colette, Jeff, Kirk and Lainie. She lived in Huxley from 1960 until her death. She was a homemaker for many years while her children were young. She entered the workforce in 1990 and worked at many different places including Casey's, Collegiate Pacific, Target, Campus Park Sportswear, Huxley Fitness Center, Dollar General and last with the Ames School District as a Special Education Aid until she retired in 2016. She was very involved in her community volunteering for clubs, organizations and most recently the Huxley Clothes Pantry. First and foremost, her family and friends were what she cherished more than anything. She was best known for being a helper and a supporter to all she knew. She loved spending time with her 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Claudette was at every school and sporting event, graduation, birthday party or wedding; supporting them in whatever they were involved with. Anyone who knew her will smile when they think about how she loved to "garage sale" and buy trinkets and goodies for all her loved ones. (Her gift boxes at birthdays at Christmas were legendary.) Claudette was well known as the Trivia Crack master. She was also known to enjoy her trips to Meskwaki Casino with her friend Sue. She met with friends every month for lunch at IHOP and also went to Tuesday movie matinees with friends. Her friends and relatives looked forward to receiving postcards and letters from her. She wrote upwards of seventy-five unique postcards per week to people all over the country. Rochester, MN was a special place for her; she loved visiting relatives and friends there several times a year. She enjoyed traveling and spending quality time with her family and friends. Claudette spent many days each month driving friends to appointments, visiting home-bound people and anyone who needed a friend. She was a living example of kindness and touched many hearts with her love and caring ways. Those left to cherish her loving memories are her daughter Colette (Mark) Simpson of Ames, Iowa; Jeff (Kim) Peterson; Kirk (Liz) Peterson; Lainie Peterson (Mark Wendhausen), all of Huxley, Iowa. Brothers Jay Villwock (Helena Hadek) of Los Angeles, CA; Van (Teri) Villwock of Ames, Iowa and sister Jill Christen of Milwaukee, WI. Grandchildren: Scott & Brett Simpson, Katie (Swanson) and Garrett Peterson, Lindy and Riley Peterson, Melissa Crawford and Alisha Peterson. Great-grandchildren: Ayden, Hilarie, Kyler and Maeve and many close relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her ex-husband. Claudette's legacy carries on through those whose lives she touched, especially her children, and grandchildren. She will be greatly missed.