Gail Petersen

Gail Beverly Petersen, 64, beloved mom, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt and partner peacefully left us on October 4 in Springfield, MO. She was born in Stoneham, MA on September 7, 1960. The youngest of the four children of Frederick and Beverly Hoering, Gail grew up on a hobby farm in West Newbury, MA where she loved dogs, cats, horses, chickens (not the roosters), rabbits and geese. She loved to be outdoors and on the water whether it was on the Atlantic Ocean beaches, small lakes in Northern Maine or later, on the beaches of Lake Superior. She graduated from Pentucket Regional High School in 1978 and briefly attended UMass in Amherst.

Gail moved to Madeline Island, La Pointe, WI in 1982 when her nephew Alex was born. She met and later married Woody Petersen in 1986. She was a devoted mother to first Ryan and later Tyler. She and Woody turned the Petersen summer home into Woods Manor, a B&B where she shared her love of cooking delicious baked goods with guests each morning. After selling the manor, the family moved to Washburn. She and Woody subsequently divorced but Gail and the boys lived in Washburn until the boys completed high school.

Gail always had an entrepreneurial spirit. She started Gale Force Pizza in Bayfield with her partner, Ken "Oly" Olsen and later in life milled and sold lumber and firewood with her partner, Mick Truchon in Ashland and in Walnut Shade, MO.

Gail was born on her mother, Bev's, birthday and they always shared an extra special bond, talking most every day and they had an ongoing cribbage rivalry, which happily ended in a draw.

Gail leaves behind her sons, Ryan and Tyler (Alia); granddaughter, Scarlett; parents, Fred and Bev of Bayfield; brothers, John (Tamerson) and David (Mimi) Hoering; sister, Carol (Keith) Sowl; nieces, Elizabeth, Emily, Katherine and Vanessa and nephew, Alex. She also leaves her partner of ten years, Mick Truchon. She would want you to remember to wear your sunscreen and to celebrate life and the ones you love every day.

A private family ceremony will be held at a later date.