Neretta Peterson, 91, of Grand Island died Thursday, December 16, 2010 at Tiffany Square Care Center.
Memorial services will be at 11 am Wednesday at Pleasant View Bible Church in Aurora. Pastor Robert Pier will officiate. Burial will be at 9:30 am Wednesday at the Monroe Evangelical Free Cemetery north of Phillips. Visitation will be from 5-8 pm Tuesday at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home in Grand Island, with a prayer service at 7 pm.
Memorials are suggested to Pleasant View Bible Church or the Donor's Choice.
Annie Neretta Peterson was born on September 6, 1919 in Wapella, Saskatchewan, Canada to Arthur F. and Melissa A. (Wood) Perry.  She grew up and received her education in Canada. At the age of 19 she moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where she attended St. Paul Bible College, graduating in May of 1942. She then spent two years as a missionary on an Indian reservation in Minnesota. When a fire destroyed her home on the reservation in 1944 she returned to Minneapolis and enrolled in Mounds Midway School of Nursing. She graduated in 1947 and began working for the VA Hospital in Minneapolis until transferring to Buffalo, NY in 1950. Neretta was introduced to Ivan by a fellow nurse and soon after moved to Nebraska where she helped open the VA Hospital in Grand Island.
She was united in marriage to Ivan Peterson on March 3, 1951 at Monroe Evangelical Free Church in Phillips, Nebraska. The couple raised their family on a farm near Marquette.  Neretta helped Ivan on the farm and in times of drought she would return to work as a nurse in various locations.  The couple enjoyed life together for 59 and one half years.  Mr. Peterson preceded her in death on October 16, 2010.
As a young woman Neretta accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and her faith was the foundation of her life. Throughout her life she touched the hearts of many through sharing her faith.
She was a past member of the Monroe Evangelical Free Church where she taught Sunday School, and a current member of Pleasant View Bible Church in Aurora. She was a loving woman with a kind heart and she always enjoyed entertaining guests, both family and friends, in her home.  She also loved music and one of her first purchases after marriage was a piano. Throughout the years she made great sacrifices to ensure all her daughters learned to play the piano. Music remained an important aspect of Neretta's life and is a love that is shared by all her children and grandchildren.
Survivors include three daughters and sons in law, Betty and Larry Peters of Lincoln, Gloria and Howard Bartlett of Cartersville, GA, and Ivalynn (Lynn) and Arden Garwood of Atkinson, NE.
Additional survivors include nine grandchildren, Drew Peters, Keith (Karin) Peters, Reid (Shelly) Peters, Kyle (Amanda) Peters, Miles (Jena) Garwood, Kelli Garwood, Cheri Garwood, Philip Bartlett, and Melissa Bartlett; as well as five great-grandchildren, two sisters in law, Eleanor Perry of Wray, CO and Betty Perry of Cabool, MO as well as several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, two brothers and sister in law, Bill Perry and Ray and Helen Perry, and a sister and brother in law Rowena and Earl Jensen.