Peggy M. Larson

Peggy Marie Larson of Harrisonville, Missouri was born February 7, 1948, the daughter of Clarence and Alice (Neumann) Petersen.  She was 74 years old when she departed this life at her home on December 19, 2022.

Peggy was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa where she grew up with many fond memories of family and relatives in the area.  Her family moved to Kansas City, Kansas when her father had a change in his job with Standard Oil Company.  She completed her secondary education at Washington High School and later attended Kansas City, Kansas Community Junior College and eventually received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Home Economics at Kansas State University.

She met her husband, David, while attending K S U and they soon fell in love and were married on July 12, 1969.  Peggy did her student teaching in Tonganoxie, Kansas and sewed curtains for a business in Manhattan, Kansas while David completed schooling for his engineering degree.  David got an engineering job in Kansas City, Missouri and they lived in Kansas City, Kansas for a short period before moving to Harrisonville, Missouri.

Peggy had a beautiful smile and personality and had a special love for children and older people.  She remained a home maker and loving mother while sons, Kenny, Jeff and Andy, attended Harrisonville schools.  During that time she made clothes for family and friends and made dozens of quilts that were given to various family members and relatives.  She participated in school programs and activities with other parents and enjoyed all kinds of arts and crafts and shopping with her friend Arline.

Peggy especially enjoyed the Neumann family reunions where relatives and friends (usually more than 100 persons) got together around Labor Day and played games, contributed to a pot luck meal and enjoyed visiting with one another.

Peggy knew Jesus as her Lord and Savior and was instrumental in influencing David to go to church and eventually receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior in January of 1993 and be baptized on her birthday that year at Antioch Southern Baptist Church.  One of her favorite church activities was organizing materials for the church library and assisting people to find information they wanted.

She was a substitute teacher for elementary grades 1-3 in the Harrisonville area for many years after her children completed their secondary education.   She retired from teaching about the time that David retired in 2014.

Family vacations were a big part of her life where she made photo albums for each year and of her grandchildren and special events.  She enjoyed nature walks, especially identifying flowers and birds.  She had a special interest in birds and went on many birding trips keeping a record of where and when she identified any new bird.

She was a local member of the American Sewing Guild and Red Hats, but her involvement dwindled in these groups as she battled symptoms of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).  This disease impacted all the movement functions of her body and eventually led to her death from pneumonia.  In spite of these conditions she remained at peace in her final days at home surrounded with love and family.

She is preceded in death by her parents Clarence and Alice Petersen and is survived by her husband David Larson of the home; three sons, Kenny Larson of Collins, Missouri, Jeff Larson (Ally) of Tracy, California  and Andy Larson of Archie, Missouri; two sisters, Nancy Talbert (Dick)  of Kansas City Kansas,  Becky Edmondson (Jack) of Walnut, Iowa; three brothers, Kenneth Petersen (Mary) of Omaha, Nebraska, Dallas Petersen of Shawnee, Kansas and Brian Petersen (Vicki) of Overland Park, Kansas; three grandchildren, Cole, Olivia and Cruz of Tracy, California and many nieces and nephews.

Celebration of Life Services will be held at Dickey Funeral Home, 2401 E. Mechanic, Harrisonville, MO 64701 at 11:00 am, Saturday, February 18, 2023 with visitation beginning at 10:00 am.