Patricia (Pat) Lee Petersen

Pat Petersen, mother/grandmother extraordinaire, lover of dogs, grand champion of bridge and life of the party, died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, April 25th, 2023 surrounded by her 3 daughters.   

Mom was born in Payson, Utah, but spent her younger years wading, splashing and swimming in the Colorado River near Bullhead City, Arizona with her parents and two little brothers at the time. Mom was extremely smart and was an avid reader.  According to our Grandpa Vern’s written memory, mom had her teacher scared because she was ahead of him in all of her studies.  She skipped the sixth grade which made her a 16-year-old high school graduate.    

The Petersen clan moved to Brigham City, Utah when mom was 12.  They missed their cool night swims in the river, but it was time to advance grandpa’s career.  Mom attended Box Elder High School where she met our dad, Larry Moyes.  Together, they had 3 darling daughters, bought Ben Lomond Lanes from our Grandpa Vern, and built a beautiful home in Harrisville, Utah.  Even though their marriage didn’t last, they became friends again before the passing of our dad last year.  

Our Harrisville house should have had a revolving door.  Teenagers were constantly coming over for hand-fried tacos and raspberry shakes made by mom.  We still like to reminisce about the road shows mom wrote.  Our favorite ones were entitled Rindersella (“who slopped her dripper”) and Charlie Tuna (“whose powers were great”).  

Because she was wicked smart with numbers, she accepted a job as a math tutor at Wahlquist Jr. High.  She had all sorts of irons in the fire during this time as she was finishing her degree in education at Weber State too and raising her girls.  After teaching elementary for a few years, mom decided to go back to Weber State once more to earn another degree in accounting.  She worked for Job Service, the Department of Workforce Services, and the State of Utah as an auditor.  

Mom loved spending time at the family cabin in Bear Lake.  We spent endless hours soaking up vitamin D at North Beach, listening to The Carpenters and Captain and Tennille on 8-track and making ebelskivers for breakfast.  (If we were lucky, we’d eat the left-overs for lunch.) “Little Switzerland” was her home away from home. 

Mom lived in North Ogden/Harrisville for the lion’s share of her life.  She loved playing bridge and cherished the friends she made there.  She loved going to the movies, theater and ballet (and sometimes would take a little siesta during the show). She loved big band music from the 40’s.  She loved a good meal with her family and oftentimes, the kids/grands would take bets on how long it would take mom/grandma to drip on her shirt. She was passionate about her puppies Louie, Teddi and Arimus.  We are grateful for our surrogate aunt, Irene Burt.  Those two sure had fun times together.  

She is survived by her daughters, Laurel Moyes, Leanne Wilcox (Kenny Shinaut) and Kris Barker (Casey), along with the grands, Chandler, Brennan, Austin (Laurel’s boys), Josh, Jake and Jared (Leanne’s boys), and Erin, Emilee and Annie (Kris’s girls).  She also was the big sister to her 5 little brothers, Gary, Brent, Jim, Chad and Mike. 

She was preceded in death by her grandson Jason Rackham and her parents Vern Petersen and Georgia Petersen and her bonus mom, Beulah Petersen.  

A service honoring her life will be held on Friday, May 5th at 11:00 a.m. at Leavitt’s Mortuary and Memorial Park 836 36th street in Ogden.  A gathering and light meal will be on onsite after the service.

In lieu of flowers, please take your family out to dinner.