Jean MacDonald Peterson passed away at Dominican Hospital, after a brief illness, at the age of 96. Jean worked for years as a secretary, and then as an office manager for her husband's private architecture firm, Richard Peterson Associates. Jean and Richard lived in Aptos for almost 60 years, where Jean also developed a love of weaving and walking Seacliff Beach.

Jean M. Peterson was born in Quincy, Massachusetts to Louise and Frank MacDonald. She grew up in Quincy with two brothers, Alan and Fred, and a sister, Nancy. She attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine. After college, she worked as a secretary at the Harvard Business School. She decided to drive out to San Francisco with three of her co-workers, and there she got a job at Crown Zellerbach and met Richard Peterson. They married on February 22, 1958, in Carmel, CA. They moved back to the Boston area while Richard attended MIT and their daughter Lisa was born in Quincy, MA. Next, they spent some time in Minneapolis while Richard taught urban planning at the University of Minnesota; it was there that their son, Erik, was born. In the mid-1960s, Jean and Richard moved back to CA, eventually landing in Rio Del Mar. Together, Jean and Richard planned and built a beautiful home for their family, and they spent the rest of their lives enjoying life in Santa Cruz County.

In addition to raising two children, Jean was very active with the Camp Fire Girls, the community of weavers and craftspeople in Santa Cruz, and two weekly walking groups. Jean walked the beach nearly every day of her life, for as long as that was possible. She loved sitting in the sun on her deck, enjoying the house her husband built for her, listening to the radio. She is survived by her two children, Erik and Lisa, and her sister Nancy Cultrera. A private memorial service will be held by the family.