Ruth Hungerpiller Petersen

Ruth Hungerpiller Petersen passed away on August 9, 2016. She was 95 years old and was the daughter of Ernest and Betty Hungerpiller of the Four Holes Community. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert (Bob) Petersen, as well as both parents and her three sisters, Irene Hungerpiller Petersen, Margaret Hungerpiller Gramling and Marion Hungerpiller Houck. She is survived by her sons, Robert and Thomas as well as Robert's two daughters, Elizabeth and Ashley, Thomas's daughter, Erika and her respective daughters-in-law, Mariann and Lisa, and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Friday, August 12, 2016 at Wesley Grove United Methodist Church with burial in the church cemetery with Rev. Lois Helms and Rev. Roger Michael Gramling officiating directed by Thompson Funeral Home, Inc. in Orangeburg.

Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. on Thursday, August 11, 2015 at Thompson Funeral Home, Inc. in Orangeburg.

Ruth was an alumnus of the Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University) as well as having earned her nursing degree from the Columbia Hospital School of Nursing. She supported the war effort in WWII by working at the Marine Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, where, by chance, she met her future husband on a blind date on New Year's Eve. She and Bob moved to Denmark for several years after the war, and then returned to the United States where she became the night nurse supervisor at the old Orangeburg Hospital.

She and Bob raised their sons on Merritt Island and returned to Cordova, SC, upon Bob's retirement from the Kennedy Space Center before ultimately moving to Columbia.

Many things were important to Ruth: her faith, her family, her grandchildren, and her church in Cordova, Wesley Grove United Methodist Church, and her friends. She will be remembered for her Southern charm, her devotion to her husband and her children, her sense of humor, and her love of motorcycles.

The family would like to express their thanks to the many friends who kept Ruth company, Marie Isert, Norma Russell, Tommy Player, Pops and Georgia Jensen, and Sarah and Stan Fryer; her minister, Rev. Lois Helms of Wesley Grove; her nephew Rev. Roger Michael Gramling and his wife Marilyn; Peg Manoogian of Columbia International University; the staff of Brookdale Assisted Living Facility who watched over her; and to the Lighthouse Hospice staff for their assistance in her last months. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Wesley Grove United Methodist Church; c/o Woody Young; PO Box 175, Cordova, SC 29039 or to Columbia International University 7435 Monticello Road Columbia, S.C. 29203.