Alice Mae Peterson
The Western News | UPDATED 1 month, 4 weeks AGO
Alice Mae Peterson passed away Sept. 28, 2025.
Alice was born in Tomahawk, Wisconsin on July 27, 1928, to Clyde and Marie Fauley. She spent her childhood in East Glacier Park where her school class consisted of three students and her father was one of the original Park Rangers.
Her mother was an artist and accomplished piano player who at times played in theaters for performances, later giving piano lessons to local students in Troy, Montana. Growing up at isolated Ranger Stations and being the only girl in a family with three brothers (Clyde Jr., Carlyle and Howard), Alice became strongly independent.
During Alice childhood in Glacier Park, the Native American Blackfeet Tribe conducted a tribal ceremony in which she was adopted into the Blackfoot Tribe and subsequently went to attend high school on the reservation in Browning, Montana. Soon after graduating from high school in Browning, Alice moved to Troy with her family.
She worked for the First National Bank in Libby where she met and married Clayton Peterson in Troy in 1949. Alice later became the secretary at the Libby High School in the 1960s. Alice left full time employment and worked part time at the Libby Care Center before purchasing Hargraves Drug Store located on Mineral Avenue in Libby with Janie Erickson.
They renamed the store Koocanusa Variety on the suggestion of a friend who went on to propose the name for the Kootenai Dam reservoir. Her husband Clayton had built the three houses they had lived in and after his retirement in 1983, Alice and Clayton spent their time remodeling houses, spending winters in California and Arizona. Alice was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church.
Alice was preceded in death by her husband Clayton and an infant daughter. She is survived by son Ken C. Peterson of Libby, Montana; son Larry C. Peterson and wife Laurie of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho; along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial is planned for a later time.
Arrangements are under the care of Schnackenberg Funeral Home of Libby, Montana. Online condolences and memories may be shared by visiting www.schnackenbergfh.com.