Mrs. Mary Hicks Peterson was born on April 8th, 1940 in Chester, PA to the late Samuel and Annie Belle Hicks.  She departed this earthly life on February 27th, 2025 peacefully at her home.

Mary was a graduate of Chester High School. She earned a certificate from the Philadelphia School of Practical Nursing (September 1959). After graduating, she came to visit her brother Ben in Morganton where she met Ben's brother-in-law, Walter. It was a quick courtship and Walt took a cab from Morganton to Chester, PA to ask her father for her hand in marriage. They married on August 14, 1960. Mary worked as a CNA for many years at Broughton Hospital. Wanting a better life for her family, she received an Associate Degree in Nursing from Western Piedmont Community College.  She worked hard and eventually became the lead nurse at Broughton Hospital. Mary retired from Broughton Hospital after 30+ years of service so that she could spend more time with her family, mainly her granddaughter.

Mary was a faithful member of Slades Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church. Whatever the service, she worked tirelessly and proficiently, always striving for the best. She was a deaconess, a missionary, an usher and a class leader. She wrote church and family newsletters. She was a kind and generous leader of a Girl Scout troop. For more than 10 years, she hosted her Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Luncheon, where 20 women were invited to her home to sing "Lift Every Voice," play creative games while learning some history, eat a delicious meal, win door prizes and fellowship. But Mary was best known for the creative Black history plays she wrote, directed and produced yearly as fundraising events for her church's Christian Education Board. She also wrote and published two books:  Jesus in a Fairy Tale (2014) and The Journey Tree:  A Journey Into Old Age (2020).

Mary was preceded in death by her parents Samuel and Annie Belle Johnson Hicks; husband Walter Wiley Peterson, Sr; sisters Eunice, Anne and Adele and brothers Ben, Otis, Frank and Howard.

She leaves to cherish her memories: son Walter W Peterson, Jr and daughter Cathy Peterson, both of Charlotte, NC; granddaughter Cayla Peterson of Ventura, CA; sister Lucy Pollock of Chester, PA: sister-in-law Catherine Yelverton (Earl) of Aurora, CO; "other daughter" Jeannie Logan (Michael) of Morganton: and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

A homegoing celebration honoring the life of Mrs. Mary Hicks Peterson will take place Saturday March 8, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at Slades Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church with Rev. Andrea Purcell presiding and Sis. Cathy Peterson serving as eulogist; interment will follow at Burke Memorial Park.  The family will receive friends thirty minutes prior to the service.