Mary Johanna Peterson “was sassy, clever, quick and stubborn,” said her son, David Peterson.
And Mary Peterson, who died at 92 on March 16 in a Wheat Ridge care facility, was also “resourceful, outgoing, energetic and would have gotten into snowboarding” if she’d had a chance, said another son, Eric Peterson. “She was always game for anything.”
Mary Peterson wasn’t famous in Colorado, but she became a local celebrity in Kansas City, Mo., where another son, David Lawrence Peterson, is on radio station WDAF.
David Peterson, who goes by David Lawrence on the air, had his mother “on the air before David Letterman ever thought of having his mother on,” said Lawrence, laughing.
Mary Peterson came to be known as “Mama Lawrence” on WDAF, when her son would call her and get folksy comments while he was on the air – about the weather, moon or other topics. She was never at a loss for words.
And she was queen of the “one and only ever” St. Joseph’s Parade the station sponsored in 1976. She attended the event wearing “a cheap crown,” according to her son. Hundreds of people showed up at a Kansas City church to march a few blocks in the parade.
“Mom had a following here for 32 years,” said her son.
Mary Peterson was always on the go. She wrote essays and jingles for contests and won one to name the first two Longhorns at the Denver Zoo: Sir Loin and Miss Steak.
She did editing and administrative work at Skiing Magazine, which later became Colorado Magazine, and sold tickets at area dog tracks.
An ardent exerciser, she hiked (she was a founding member of the Humdingers hiking group), played tennis, cross-country skied, ice skated and was in the Senior Olympics in race walking and Italian bowling. Almost every Friday night, the Petersons went dancing.
She raised a huge vegetable garden, which her sons remember fondly, except for those turnips their mother tried to pass off as potatoes, said Eric Peterson, of Tucson.
The Peterson door “was always open,” said Eric Peterson, and neighbors and friends often arrived conveniently at dinner time.
Mary Johanna Michelini was born Oct. 19, 1913, in Calumet, Mich. She was working in the Hamtramck post office in Michigan when she met Arno Peterson. They married in 1941 and moved to Colorado in 1948, living in Arvada for more than 55 years.
In addition to her sons, she is survived by four grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband and two sons: Robert Peterson and Daniel Peterson.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
