Marvin Petersen

Marvin G. Petersen passed away at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon February 14, 2025.  He was 83. A Memorial Service will take place at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Manly Saturday, May 17. In April, check the church’s Facebook page for time and further details.

Marvin was born at home on a farmstead in Worth County, Iowa in July 1941.  He attended school at Manly, played football, and was an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church where he married Anita (Dahl) in September 1961. They resided in Mason City until the mid-1970s when the family moved to Rockford and then on to Waukon where they resided for nearly 50 years.

Marvin loved to hunt and passed those skills to his sons. He loved to garden, and many families, friends and neighbors benefited from his harvests. In later years, Marvin and Anita took frequent road trips through the west and mid-west.

Not to be constrained indoors, his jobs were outside and on the road. He’s best remembered and proud of his decades of driving school buses and especially transporting Waukon High School championship teams across the state and being their number-one fan.

Marvin is survived by his wife of 63 years, Anita; two sons: Craig and his wife Meilin, and granddaughter Kiana and husband Micheal, and grandson Caelan and wife Natasha; and John, and grandson Jordan and wife Kristina, and great-granddaughter Aspen. His sisters Pauline and Margaret live in Mason City, as do many other nieces and nephews.

Preceding Marvin in death were his parents, Sonke and Tillie; his sister, Mary Louise; and his brothers, John Maynard and Tom.