Obituaries - Wednesday, October 14
Carol Ann (Pettijohn) Peterson
March 18, 1947 - October 10, 2026
Carol Ann (Pettijohn) Peterson passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love, on October 10, 2026. Carol was born March 18, 1947, the daughter of Lewis L. Pettijohn and Ruth I. (Foster) Pettijohn. She graduated with honors as valedictorian from Solomon High School in 1965. From there, she went to Brown Mackie and earned a certificate in bookkeeping, and took a position for the state department in Topeka as a clerk. Carol then decided to attend Kansas State University and majored in Horticulture. She served on the Horticulture Judging Team, and graduated as Outstanding Senior in the Department of Horticulture. During her time at Kansas State, she worked for the Horticulture Department for KSU Open House, where she met Arden Peterson, an Ag Econ major and Livestock Judging Team member. They began to date, then Carol moved to Salina upon graduation in the fall of 1970 and worked at Evans Grain, while Arden remained at Kansas State and graduated in the spring of 1971. In the meantime, Carol took another position in Topeka but decided it was time to talk seriously with Arden, who had taken a position as a feedyard cattle buyer in Garden City. She called him and they decided to get married, and so a few weeks later, at the Solomon United Methodist Church on July 2, 1971, they did. They lived in Garden City for a couple of years, where they became members of the First United Methodist Church of Garden City. They volunteered as co-youth leaders there.
In 1973, they made the decision to go in partnership with Carol's father, Lew, and her brother, Alan, in their farming and cattle operation, Pettijohn Farms Inc., and moved back to the Solomon area. Carol returned to school at Kansas Wesleyan and got her education certificate, then began teaching junior high science at Southeast of Saline schools. She eventually switched to high school science. After the birth of their second child, she stayed home as a full-time mother. She continued to be involved in the farming operation and later started keeping books alongside her mother. In the late 1980s, Carol took a part-time position teaching night Biology classes for Cloud County Community College and enjoyed doing that for several years. Upon their move back to Solomon, Arden and Carol became members of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Abilene, where they continued to serve. Carol taught a ladies Sunday School class for many years, and while their children were school-aged, Arden and Carol both served in the youth ministry as well.
Carol enjoyed walking, gardening, biking, and quilting, running a farmer's market stand for a number of years and making many quilts for family, friends, and as part of the Sew Promises group to give to victims of tornados or illnesses as well as quilts for military members. Her favorite vacations were simple ones: looking at the crops in the fields, riding in the combine or tractor or sprayer and marveling at the changes in them over the years, and driving out to Quivira and Cheyenne Bottoms to see the many birds, ducks, and geese gathered there. She loved going to see the Sand Hill Cranes as they migrated. She and Arden took some special trips as well to the northeast in the fall to see the leaves and the coast, and to Europe to see missionary friends and travel several European countries.
The most important thing to Carol was her faith in the Lord. She accepted Jesus as her personal savior at Camp Mary Dell in grade school, and loved and served the Lord her whole life. Her life was a true example of Christ-like love and kindness, and she shined the light of Jesus everywhere she went. Even during her two bouts with breast cancer, her faith never wavered. When the medicines stopped working, she continued to live her life in joy and peace, taking walks and enjoying God's creation, and at the very end, looking forward to heaven and seeing Jesus face-to-face along with her many friends and family that had gone before.
Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Lewis and Ruth Pettijohn, brothers Arthur and Alan Pettijohn, and granddaughter Brittany (Smith) Barajas. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Arden, of the home; her children, Shari (Craig) Smith, of Solomon, and Andrew (Jennifer) Peterson of Hudson, IA; her sister, Linda Pettijohn, of Marion; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was well loved, she loved well, and will be greatly missed on this earth by all who knew her. The reunion in heaven will be great.
Visitation will be held at Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home in Abilene on Friday, October 23 from 6-8 pm. Services will be held at 10 am at Emmanuel Church, in Abilene, with graveside services following at Prairiedale Cemetery in Talmage. A luncheon will be served at church after the conclusion of the graveside service. Memorials may be made to Emmanuel Church for the missions fund or the building fund, or to Dickinson County Home Health and Hospice. Memorials may be dropped off or mailed to Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home, 414 NW Third St., Abilene, KS 67410.
Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home
