Sarah Peterson Gettelman

Sarah P. “Sally” Gettelman of Monument, Colorado, passed from this life on September 5, 2021, at the age of 90. The daughter of Helen and Laurence Peterson, she was born on March 18, 1931, and grew up in Milwaukee, Bay View, and Elm Grove, Wisconsin, with an older sister, Mitzi (Mildred Severson). Despite a series of daredevil exploits, from exploring forbidden properties to jumping off a shed and leaping over an open shaft on the school playground, Sally survived to adulthood. She graduated from Wauwatosa High School and earned her associate’s degree from the University of Minnesota, where she met her future husband, William P. Gettelman. Following a courtship conducted partly in Lake Tahoe, during Bill’s military service and her second summer stint as a waitress at a swanky resort there, they married on August 28, 1952, at First Congregational Church in Waukesha.

Sally went on to complete secretarial school at Prospect Hall in Milwaukee and worked as secretary to the chief engineer at WC Heath, a local consulting firm, until it became too difficult to hide her pregnancy, a condition deemed highly unseemly in that era. She then dedicated herself to civilizing her husband and three children, Barbara “Parry”, Anne, and Tom, a process made easier by her preternatural ability to enjoin good behavior by fixing miscreants with a gimlet eye. The kids also knew from experience that she would, absolutely, turn this car around and go home, even if she was just as disappointed as they were to miss a day at the state fair. When decorum prevailed in the back seat, she conducted many wonderful outings to parks, pools, theaters, farm stands, and such exotic locales as House on the Rock, Black River Falls, and her Aunt Eunice’s island on Rainy Lake in Minnesota. Her sister and children, Robin and Piper, were included in some of these adventures, and she showed a commendable, if not infinite, degree of forbearance with late-night giggling during cousins’ sleepovers.

A talented athlete, avid sports fan, and woman of vision, Sally became a Packer season ticket holder at an early juncture, giving her the upper hand in her marriage, at least during the Lombardi years. She also periodically purchased Bucks tickets, although she ultimately started taking Tom instead of Bill because her son didn’t embarrass her by yelling at the referees. She was also an early adopter of the timeshare scheme, allowing for annual skiing trips to Vail with dear friends Burt and Helen Swanson and their delightful children.

In 1979, Sally became a realtor with a Brookfield company, and she put in countless hours helping young couples find and purchase the perfect first home, an endeavor that clearly involved more altruism than career ambition. She continued to work as a broker with Coldwell Banker for a year after she and Bill moved in 1996 to Monument, already colonized by daughter Anne Campbell and her husband, Jeff. Sally was the devoted, if not stereotypically indulgent, Granny of Connor and Gavin Campbell. Sadly, Bill died in 1999, a loss she accepted with typical Midwestern stoicism, although for some time, she could not bring herself to make popcorn during football games, without him there to share it. Son Tom eventually moved to Colorado with his wife, Sara, and Sally enjoyed watching many Packer and Bronco games with him. He also happily joined in her March Madness marathon, but nobody in the family could begin to match her stamina when it came to following football, the PGA, or the Tour de France, for that matter.

In June 2021, Sally joyfully welcomed Connor’s new wife, Steph, into the fold. She was also especially fond of her late aunt, Mary Louise Letts, and cousin Sarah Atherton, and enjoyed driving down to Amarillo to visit them.

Sally was active for many years in Elm Grove United Methodist Church, singing in the choir, sometimes along with her daughters, and participating in the Bethel Bible Study and other classes. In 1996, she joined the Church at Woodmoor in Monument, and over the years, she served on the Parish Council and assisted in the pastor search process, among other roles. She became one of the first female members of the local Sertoma chapter, later Kiwanis, and she volunteered with PEO and the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club. Her encyclopedic knowledge of gridiron matters made her much sought-after by football pools, although she really only cared to get involved with the financial aspect of this pursuit when it benefitted a worthy cause.

Following nine decades of life well lived, Sally leaves a host of wonderful memories that her loved ones will forever cherish. There was also some pad thai in her freezer, which has been consumed, as she would have wished.

Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, November 13, 1 p.m., at the Church at Woodmoor, 18125 Furrow Rd., Monument CO.