Trudy A. Peterson

– Trudy A. Peterson, 74, passed away peacefully February 9, 2022, at her home surrounded by her family.

Trudy was born on January 18, 1948, to Robert and Helen Johnson. She graduated from Marshall High School and moved to Milwaukee to attend the Mount Sinai Nursing School. After graduating nursing school, she married her husband, Lawrence Mandel, who preceded her in death.

As a Registered Nurse, she worked in nursing for the next 49 years in a wide variety of areas including pediatrics, geriatric, emergency, and hospice care. Outside of nursing, children were the love of her life. She spent more than 10 years as a foster parent, parenting more than 10 children and eventually adopting two. Along the way she also earned a Master of Religious Education degree from the Meadville-Lombard Theological School and spent more than 10 years as the Director of Religious Education for the Unitarian Church North in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Trudy is survived by her second husband, Keith Peterson, her children: Todd Mandel (Heather Linville), Edward Mandel, and Shawn Mandel (Mykelle); her sisters Betty (Robert) Pound and Marilyn Skolaski-Knuteson; and many grandchildren and extended family members and friends.

She was preceded by death by her parents and her first husband, Lawrence Mandel.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be expressed to The Parenting Place or The Center (7 Rivers LGBTQ Connection).

A memorial gathering will be held on Sunday, February 20, 2022 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home, 200 West Ave. S., La Crosse. A memorial service will be held on April 2, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Church North in Mequon, Wisconsin.