ANNA PETERSON

PETERSON Anna K. Peterson The full and rich life of Anna K. Peterson ended on October 20, 2021 in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 89. She was born in San Francisco to immigrant parents, a Russian father and Estonian mother (Alexandra and Serge Kovaleff) who had immigrated from Harbin, China (where there was a large Russian presence) in the early 1920's. Only Russian was spoken at home, so when Anna entered kindergarten, she was the only non-English speaker in her class. It was a lonely year for her, there was no such thing as ESL, but she managed to absorb the new language and ended up being valedictorian of her large graduating class at Burlingame High School (Burlingame, CA, a suburb of San Francisco). She graduated from Stanford University in 1954. The CIA recruited Anna directly from Stanford as a Russian specialist. She came to Washington, D.C. in 1955 and found not only a very good job, but also a great, loving husband. She and Don H. Peterson, a fellow CIA officer, were married in 1956. Almost immediately the just-married couple headed for Tokyo on Don's CIA assignment. Anna fell in love with Japan and her new overseas life. Their first son, David, was born in 1957. From 1958-1960 they served on Okinawa, where their second son, Christopher, was born in 1960. The young family lived on the island nation of Cyprus next for four years, 1960-1962 and 1964-1966. Back in the U.S. and the family's Mt. Vernon home, Anna resumed her CIA career in 1967, worked part-time for 10 years, retiring in 1994, having served for thirty years during the Cold War. In retirement, she was a member and served on the Board of the Washington-Tokyo Women's Club. A New York Times article about the growing village movement of seniors aging in place caught her eye, and she became one of the founding members of Mount Vernon at Home, where she served on its board and was an active member for many years. Her interests centered on museums and classical music. She was a pretty good pianist and also had played the cello in Burlingame High's orchestra. But she also enjoyed jazz, cabaret and the Great American Songbook. She was a serious fan of both Bobby Short and Michael Feinstein, in addition to Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. For several decades she and husband Don regularly attended symphony, ballet and other performances at Washington's Kennedy Center. She delighted in spending time with her family and friends. In addition to her husband Don of 65 years, she is survived by her son David (Meg) Peterson of Milford, CT and Heath, MA and their three sons, Eric (Oakland, CA), Michael (Kelsey) of Milford, CT and Tim of Brooklyn, NY. She is also survived by son Chris (Sally) of Sausalito, CA and grandchildren Kate and Max. She was predeceased by her brother, Alex Kovaleff of Southern California. The family of children and grandchildren was loving and close-knit despite the distances separating them all. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Mount Vernon at Home, P.O. Box 7493, Alexandria, VA 22307 or www.mountvernonathome.org. There will be a private memorial service for family and friends.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Mount Vernon at Home, P.O. Box 7493, Alexandria, VA 22307 or www.mountvernonathome.org. There will be a private memorial service for family and friends.