Elin Peterson

Elin Anna Carlsson was born on December 4, 1919 to John and Julia (Olsson) Carlsson on the island of Oland, Sweden. She received high school/junior college education at Katrineholm, and achieved her 4 year degree in 18 months. She was accepted into the premier nursing school in Sweden, Sofiahemmet in Stockholm. Her training allowed her to work not only in Sweden, but provided her living when she immigrated to United States in 1948, working as a nurse in New York, Rochester, Minneapolis and Santa Barbara before returning briefly to Sweden. When she returned to United States in the early 1950s she began anesthesia training at the University of MN Hospitals. She met Wendell Peterson around this time and they eventually married at Kansas Lake Lutheran Church, rural Butterfield, MN on May 26th 1956. Wendell farmed and Elin worked as the anesthetist at the newly built Watonwan Memorial Hospital in St James for more than 25 years. In later years Elin attended classes at Mankato State University, traveled widely across North America and Europe. She enjoyed good conversation, good friends, books, cats, bird-watching, gardening, and church-related activities. Her friends and family will remember her spirit, her intelligence, her humor, her love and her tenacity. Elin is preceded in death by her husband, Wendell Peterson; brothers and sister-in law Arne, Sune and Inga Rudestig. She is survived by her son Daniel Harlov, daughter Kristin (Paul) Oehlke, and daughter Ingrid Asher, as well as sisters-in-law Evangeline Peterson and Gullan Rudestig, and nephews Tage (Inger) Rudestig and Conny (Sara) Rudestig. Memorials may be directed to the Good Samaritan Society in St. James.