Deborah Joan (Peterson) Karson

Deborah Joan (Peterson) Karson, 76, of Bemidji, MN passed away peacefully on May 15, 2025, at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.

Debby was born in St. Cloud on May 11, 1949, and raised in Maple Lake, MN. As a child she attended St. Timothy's Parochial school and devoutly attended St. Timothy's Catholic Church, where she fondly played the organ for mass each Sunday. She graduated from Maple Lake High School in 1967 and was proud to be Maple Lake Irish! Her fondest memories of high school were participating in the Maple Lake Irish marching band.

Debby continued her education and graduated from Bethesda Lutheran Hospital School of Practical Nursing in St. Paul, MN in 1969. She also attended St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota. She obtained her Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) licensure and worked as a charge nurse in various medical/surgical units in hospitals across Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota, and Missouri. She found joy in gardening, planting flowers, baking, cooking, boy/girl scouts, bowling, volunteering, reading, church, and school. Debby had six children and often proclaimed being a mother was the best part of her life, in addition to being a grandmother.

She was a devoted mother, wife, grandmother, and advocate in the MLD community. Debby loved her children and grandchildren fiercely, never wavering in her dedication to her family. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth Karson; children Holly (Kevin) Bergstrom, Shaun (Anne) Karson, James Karson, Joel Karson, and Heather Karson (Carl Hipp); brother Jim (Marge) Peterson; sister-in-law Karen Peterson, and grandchildren Harvey and Henry Bergstrom, and Dorothy and Daniela Karson, and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents Clifford and Gertrude (Gagnon) Peterson, son Daniel Karson, brothers Bob, Russell, and John Peterson, and sister-in-law Letitia Peterson.

She requested a private family internment with her immediate family. She will be laid to rest in Maple Lake at the Church of St. Timothy.

She is home at last.