Online Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/obits/current/apr2003.txt
Extracted from The Winn Parish Enterprise (Winnfield, LA)
Augusta Peters Peterson
Augusta Peters Peterson, age 89, long-time staff assistant on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. died February 24, 2003, at her home, Vinson Hall, a
retirement community in McLean, Virginia.
Mrs. Peterson was born January 29, 1914, in Shreveport, Louisiana. She
attended Louisiana State University and served as secretary in the Louisiana
Department of Labor and legal secretary for Louisiana Collector of Revenue, as
well as secretary-office manager for the law firm of Brumfield, Hebert & Rush,
during which time she was also Legislative Assistant and Clerk of the
Louisiana Senate Finance Committee, all in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Following World War II she became a court reporter for the United States
Department of the Army in Tokyo, Japan, spending five years there before
moving on to serve as Conference Reporter and Technical Assistant for the
United States Government in Taipei, Taiwan during 1952 and 1953.
After briefly working as a court reporter in Louisiana, in 1954 she joined the
Washington staff of United States Senator Allen J. Ellender of Louisiana,
serving as his Office Manager.
In 1965 she was appointed Clerk of the Food Control Subcommittee of the
Committee on Public Works of the United States House of Representatives. She
retired from that position in 1971.
In 1968 she married Lewis V. Peterson, an audio-visual expert who had
pioneered the use of motion pictures for instructional purposes and who later
helped organize the educational television station at the University of
Illinois at Champaign, Illinois.
In 1983 Mrs. Peterson was elected as a Senator to Virginia's first Silver
Haired Legislature, a model general assembly for the elderly.
Even in retirement she remained active in helping members of her church and of
her woman's club.
Despite never having had any children of her own, Mrs. Peterson nurtured,
tutored and mentored numerous young people, including her grandchildren,
children of Louisiana friends, Capitol Hill staffers, and members of her
church. Her life put her in contact with talented people who [sic with] whom she
established life-long friendships.
A memorial service will be conducted Saturday, 10:00 a.m. at the Fairlington
United Methodist Church, Alexandria, Virginia. Interment will be in
Shreveport, Louisiana, at the Greenwood Cemetery.
A Memorial Service will be held for Mrs. Peterson on July 19 at Greenwood
Cemetery in Shreveport, LA.
She was preceded in death by her father James Spicer Peters and her mother
Maimie Rutledge Brigham.
She is survived by three step-daughters, Judith Stevens of Jacksonville,
Florida, Penny Peterson of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Christine Brinkley of
Champaign, Illinois; seven grandchildren; six great grandchildren; niece Jo
Collins Williams of Bellville, Texas; and numerous great nieces and great
nephews.
Mrs. Peterson has been a member of the Spicer Wallace Chapter, Daughters of
the American Revolution since 1955.
Wednesday, April 2, 2003