Ruth Marjorie Petersen

1926-2020

Ruth Marjorie Helmsin Petersen, age 93 years passed away March 19, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah at the home of her son where she was living three days before her 94th birthday. Cause of death was incidental to advanced age and a severe deep brain stroke which occurred on February 6, 2020.

She was born March 22, 1926 in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio to Leroy Lynn Helmsin and Cecile Olivia Brooks. She graduated from Portsmouth High School class of 1944. Soon after high school graduation she and her mother moved to Salt Lake City.

Ruth married Melvin Banks Petersen in the Salt Lake Temple on November 15, 1945 and they made their home in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake City, where she lived in the same home for 74 years. She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joining when she was 16 years old.

Ruth was very talented with textiles. She was a knitter, both by hand and on knitting machines. She was adept with a crochet hook. She knew how to tat, both the British style and the Japanese style. At her height she was an excellent seamstress. She made many of the clothes her children wore to school. Some people thought those clothes had been purchased at expensive clothing stores. Needlepoint was not foreign to her skill set, either.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her brother, Leroy Nicholas Helmsin. She is survived by her three children, Cecile (John) Oldham, Randall (Linda) Petersen and Aleta (Fred) Cox; five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Due to the current corona virus emergency, there will be no public funeral or viewing. A private graveside service will be Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Interment will be at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.