Hollys Peterson, 78, of Minnewaukan died April 2 of liver disease. At her direction there was no funeral or memorial service. She planned to donate her body to the UND Medical School but that did not occur because the medical school placed a hold on accepting bodies. Cremation took place and her ashes will be interred in the Minnewaukan Cemetery.
Why she came down with cirrhosis of the liver is a mystery because she was never a boozer and the past 40 plus years she hadn’t ingested a drop of alcohol. She died a week after moving to the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd in New Rockford under the care of hospice. She was born and died in New Rockford although she never lived there except the last week of her life. Hollys Jill Narveson was born Aug. 3, 1945 in New Rockford, the daughter of Edmurl and Bethel Narveson of Oberon. She grew up on a farm near Oberon and graduated from Oberon High School in 1964. She married Larry Howard of Minnewaukan on July 17, 1964 in Fargo. They lived in Cheyenne, Wyo. for a year, where he was teaching. They returned to Benson County and bought a farm on Graham’s Island. She attended the Lake Region Community College in Devils Lake and UND in Grand Forks, earning a bachelor’s degree in social work. She worked for the ND School for the Deaf in Devils Lake as a dormitory counselor. She had two sons, Clinton Jay Howard and Daniel Scott Howard. Her marriage ended in divorce in March of 1977. On Feb. 14, 1978 she married Richard Peterson of Minnewaukan, who was editor and publisher of the Benson County Farmers Press, a weekly newspaper. She later went to work as a social worker with the Lake Region Human Service Center in Devils Lake. After further education she became a licensed addiction counselor with the center. She also worked for a time as an addiction counselor with the Center for Solutions in Cando. She retired July 31, 2012. SURVIVORS: her husband, Richard Peterson of Minnewaukan; two sons and daughters-in-law, Jay Howard and Petra Larkin of Minnewaukan and Dan Howard and Anita Alufohai of Moorhead, Minn.; two grandchildren, Ethan Howard of Minnewaukan and Nicole Howard of Fargo; a great-granddaughter, Aubrey Lidenberg of Fargo; a brother, Noel Narveson of Stanton; a sister, Laureen (Merlin) Foard of Pullman, Wash.; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; a grandson, Alec Howard; and a sister, Cherryl Pahl of Jamestown.
Hollys is in the care of the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake