Martha Ann “Marti” (Rumel) Peterson was born June 11, 1928, in Omaha, Nebraska, the first in a sibship of 4. Her father “Wessie,” a WWI vet, was a difficult and demanding character, worked for Bell Telephone, provided family security through the Great Depression. Her mother MaeBelle was tender and submissive, a home-maker, a veritable “Saint” even if she made up certain rules in contract bridge. MaeBelle’s deference was not a path she was willing to adopt. Marti became a strong woman. In 1946 Marti graduated from Central High School in Omaha. A rare beauty, it was always unclear whether she looked like Elizabeth Taylor, or whether Elizabeth Taylor looked like her! She met her future husband on Mother’s Day 1947, when Chuck Peterson, just home from WWII, serving with 5th US Army Air Force in Japan, spotted her in church. As charming as both were, their future was uncertain. Her dad, Wessie, didn’t want anyone to get near his daughter; Marti said “he would always turn on all the porch lights if we lingered on the swing a bit too long!” Her eventual father-in-law, Homer, thought she came from the “wrong side of the tracks” in South Omaha. Despite those objections, wasting no time, they married on September 2, 1947, a wondrous marriage, a Camelot ending only with his death in 2013. They produced two lively children, Charles Jr, a PhD clinical psychologist in Lakeville, Minnesota, and Christine, a Sioux City firefighter and equestrian. Marti was a devoted mother, fixing malted milks for Chip or mending cowgirl outfits for Little Chrissie. Never a slug-a-bed or absent mother, she was up in the am for hot breakfast, school lunches and after school cookies, ready to host scouts, chess club, and more. She placed special emphasis on effort, in trying, realizing life involved work: she worked hard and taught her children to work hard. She kept a lovely home, no matter their humble beginnings. She worked hard for her children, her neighborhood, her community, her church. She also spent 20+ years as co-founder, co-owner of Chuck Peterson Photography. What a partner! Marti: was an avid sports-woman who had her own 28 gauge shotgun, a crack shot when hunting clay tiles, pheasants, and quail. Always a regular on bird hunting trips to South Dakota or Missouri with dear old friends. Active in a broad swatch of Sooland clubs: camera club, the art center, Siouxland Railroad, the Sons (presumably the daughters, too) of Norway, and PEO (she never revealed the “secret handshake!). She was active in a Sooland group, the “Treasure Seekers” where she shared her collections, lecturing on topics like shells, mustard pots, and postcards. She and Chuck were robust travelers, spending time in Italy, Switzerland, England, France and Norway. They were (working!) regulars at a dude ranch in the shadow of Monument Valley. Most memorable were their trips to Hawaii, where those lovers reprised a scene from “From Here to Eternity.” Marti was active collector, amassing many mustard pots even publishing an article on those once common table condiments. She and Chuck loved searching for antiques (their business was called “A Finder’s High”) with a special interest in “tea leaf” patterned ironstone. In addition to mustard pots, she was a shell collector, a “beach bum,” who loved walking, sifting sand and shells near Sanibel, eventually finding the fabled junonia. So busy but she managed to be a loving grandma of Amanda, Stacy and Laura Peterson: “Hey let’s go swimming at grandma’s house.” Marti was a giver and a doer. She delivered Meals on Wheels. She was on the board of the Sioux City Boys and Girls home, finding ways to enrich the lives of all she touched.

Chuck and Marti were married for 66 years. They had faith in each other, through thick and thin. She and Chuck were steady congregants in the First Presbyterian Church in Sioux City. Not believing in predestination, they worked hard to earn blessings. During the last few years of their marriage, she most definitely kept him alive, her love the strong tonic he needed. Never had a nurse looked so radiant or worked so hard.

When Chuck died on March 24, 2013, it was impossible for her to be grateful for the dawn. She couldn’t imagine a day without him. She tended her collections, kept the house neat as a pin, and spent time with her best friend, her daughter Christine. They had a special bond, sharing a canine companion. When her daughter was fighting fires in Sioux City, they shared a loveable cur, “Buddy,” who kept her company and guarded the homestead. He had sleep-over privileges.

An opportunity for human companionship presented itself. Enter Charles Calhoun, an old Sioux City friend, who had recently lost his wife. Meeting at her funeral , the two chanced a coffee date, which was followed by a trip to the symphony, a riverboat trip to Memphis; the romance was “on”, recaptured. They married October 20, 2018, to enjoy the present, and face the future together. Good companions for the last eight years of her life. They both struggled with health challenges, Marti starting a cognitive decline that eventually, sadly, claimed her. She returned to Mother Earth on Monday, May 25th, 2026. Those who knew her, loved her. Now Charles Calhoun, like the rest of us, must learn to live without this beautiful person. He will relocate to Memphis to be with his son, Mark, daughter in law Melanie Calhoun, and family.

Preceded in death by her (1st) husband, Chuck Peterson, her father, Wesley Rumel, her mother, MaeBelle Rumel, her brother Robert (a disabled Korean War vet), her sister Peggy, a stillborn brother Richard, and her grand-daughter Stacy. Memorials may be sent to the Siouxland Railroad Historical Association, in which, both she and her (first) husband, Chuck Peterson, were very active.