Marit Peters

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Marit Ravnan Peters, age 64, passed away on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, at Agrace HospiceCare, after 9 years with Parkinson’s Disease.  She was born on April 8, 1957, in Madison,to Jorun and Marcus Ravnan.  From 1959 to 1967 they lived in Black Earth, WI.  Returning to Madison, where Marcus worked as a Cardiovascular Perfusionist at UW Hospitals, Marit attended Hoyt School, was in the last class at West Junior High, and graduated from West High in 1975.  This education fostered her deep love of music and the arts and gave her many lifelong friends.  She graduated from UW Madison in 1982 with a degree in French education.

Her love of music was diverse and filled her life—classical, especially Bach, Brahms, and Chopin; playing flute, piano, singing in choirs, majoring in dance until a back injury; and pop artists such as Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Paul McCartney and Taj Mahal; working in a record store through college.  It was there that she met her husband, Henry Peters, and they were married at Vermont Lutheran Church in Black Earth on April 23, 1983.  For 7 years they lived in Waukegan IL, where she taught French and their two children, Laura (1988) and Matthew (1992) were born, before returning to Madison in 1993.  Marit worked at Edgewood College Library for 15 years as an administrative assistant while raising her children.

Marit was never happier than when she could walk a beach and gaze out across big water and sky.  Every summer held a family Door County trip, and her efforts at finding a beach cottage were tireless—over 25 different ones, all on “The Quiet Side”.  With her oldest friend, Barb, she went to the Door every fall, as well as a few Caribbean adventures.  Marit reveled in the planning of trips--family vacations to Jekyll Island, Sanibel, Monterey, Puerto Vallarta, Maine, Cape Cod, and most memorably to France with Barb, where they studied at the Sorbonne, and to Norway, where her relatives treated us like royalty.  She also loved house-hunting—not long after we were settled in one (5 in all), the search would begin anew.

Marit was known for her compassion and deep loyalty to her family and friends; her wit and glowing smile; her pride in being 100% Norwegian, and her bravery and determination in facing Parkinson’s.

Her sister-in-law called Marit the “rudder” of the family.  She will be so missed by many who knew and loved her, especially her husband, Henry.

She is survived by her husband of 38 years; two children, Laura and Matthew of Madison; her brothers, Peer (Rena) Ravnan of Jasper, Georgia and John (Heather) Ravnan of Greenville, South Carolina, and many aunts, uncles and cousins both in the U.S. and Norway.  She was preceded in death by her parents.

A memorial service will be held at Vermont Lutheran Church, 9886 Vermont Church Rd., Black Earth, WI  53515, on Saturday, December 11 at 1:00 PM, Pastor Barry Hoerz presiding. A reception will follow immediately after.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or the American Parkinson’s Disease Association or the charity of your choice.