Phyllis Ward Peters

Phyllis Ward Peters, 92, died peacefully on August 16, 2013, at Apostles Center for Care, Homestead Village, Lancaster, PA. Born in Lansing, Michigan on May 20, 1921, she was the daughter of Mabel Wilkins Ward and Roy Ward. She was the wife of Melvin H. Peters for 48 years until his passing in 1991. She graduated from Central High School in Lansing in 1939 and Sparrow Hospital School of Nursing in 1943. She was a nurse in the Navy Nurse Corps during World War II, stationed primarily in Key West, FL. She met her husband at the Naval Base in Key West where he was an officer; they were married in her home state of Michigan and came to live in Lancaster in 1946. They also lived in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, and Naples, FL. An avid golfer who had several holes in one and was a long time member of the Women’s Central Penn Golf Association, she was a member of the Lancaster Country Club, Imperial Golf Club in Naples and Fountain Valley Golf Club in St. Croix. She also was a member of the Hamilton Club. She was a member of St. James Episcopal Church and had been involved in starting St. Thomas Episcopal Church when it began as a mission church in the late 1950s. She is survived by her daughter, Judith Peters MacDougall and her husband, Malcolm; her sons Timothy Ward Peters and his wife, Lynn, and Dennis Greg Peters and his wife, Patti; and a stepson, Michael Peters and his wife, Judy, all of Lancaster. Grandchildren include: Elizabeth Uhlinger (John), of Colorado Springs, CO; Dennis Peters, Jr. (Kelly) of Lancaster; Matthew Szarek of Roswell, GA; Timothy W. Peters, Jr. (Elizabeth) of Lancaster; Megan Peters Glenn (Lee) of Reston, VA; Catherine Mumma (Thomas) of Lancaster; and Melvin Matthew Peters (fiance of Sarah Taylor) of Allentown. She will be missed by 12 great-grandchildren: Sophia, Tripp, Jagger, Kent, Tristan, Zachary, Markley, Sarah, Francis, Maggie, Sam, and Grady. Friends are invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial at St. James Episcopal Church, 119 North Duke Street, Lancaster, on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. with the Reverend Barbara Seras officiating The family will greet friends at 10:00 a.m. in the chapel at St. James prior to the service. Interment will follow at Conestoga Memorial Gardens. The family wishes to thank the Apostles Center for Care and Hospice staffs for the kind and compassionate care they provided. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Phyllis Ward Peters Nursing Endowed Scholarship which is awarded to a student who consistently demonstrates exceptional compassion for patients, is sensitive to their needs, and achieves excellence in the practice of bedside nursing at the Lancaster General College of Nursing and Health Sciences, 410 North Lime Street, Lancaster, PA 17602 or to The Apostles Center for Care at Homestead Village, PO Box 3227, Lancaster, PA 17604.

Phyllis Ward Peters

August 17, 2013