Donna Richardson

Donna Irene Peterson Richardson

February 3, 1919 ~ December 23, 2014

Our mother, Donna Irene Peterson Richardson, passed away peacefully on December 23, 2014, a few weeks short of her 96th birthday.  She was born in Ogden, Utah, to Ezra Moroni and Alma Wiese Peterson on February 3, 1919, the third of five children. She grew up in a spacious apartment over her parents’ Ogden business, Paramount Dairy and Ice Cream Co.

Donna attended Ogden public schools where she made lifelong friends.  After graduation from Ogden High, she attended Weber College and then transferred to Utah State Agricultural College. Humorously, her father threatened to withdraw her because they served margarine instead of butter in the lunchroom. There she met our father and her eternal companion, Lynn Richardson. After his graduation, they were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on September 5, 1939.  They were married 68 years before his death in 2008.

Our Mom and Dad attended symphonies and ballets together and had a talent for finding and keeping friends. They enjoyed traveling with family and friends and entertaining them in their beautifully decorated home.  Mom was always well dressed and well groomed.  She was a lovely lady to her last days. She was modest and unassuming, never appreciating her own virtues. But we did.

Mom was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Chareya Club, Ladies’ Literary Club, and the Ogden Junior League.  Each gave her the opportunity to serve others in her community.

Mom was a wonderful grandmother, an excellent cook and loved to play bridge.  She painted holiday ceramics and made beautiful quilts and afghans.  She needlepointed pillows, music bags, and Christmas stockings to the delight of her family.

Family was very important to Mom. Her favorite youthful memories were of large family gatherings. Mom and Dad were the primary caregivers for her mother, both when Nana lived next-door and when she lived in assisted living centers.

Donna is survived by her children, Carol Lynn & Ron Dusek, Judy & Terry Kneebone, and Brent & Diane Richardson; sister, Thelma (Gil) Iker; brother- in-law, Byron Naisbitt; sister-in-law, Ortel Peterson; nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.  She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Clifford; and sisters, Carol Naisbitt and Kathryn & her husband, Arnold Finlayson; granddaughters, Diana Kim and Kelly Kneebone; and her beloved husband, Lynn, whom she has now joined.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 29, 2014, at 11 a.m. at Lindquist's Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.  Friends may visit family on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the mortuary.

Because of illness and distance, some of her family will be unable to attend. They will arrange a celebration of her life at a later date. It was a life well worth celebrating.  We will miss her more than we can say.

We appreciate the wonderful care she received from the staff of Mountain Ridge Assisted Living Center and Encompass Health and Hospice.  If you would like to honor her memory, we suggest a donation to the LDS Humanitarian Fund or the Ogden Symphony-Ballet Assoc.