Joan Teresa Peterson

Joan Peterson (nee Miles) passed away peacefully in her home on May 29, 2026, surrounded by family and friends.

Since retiring from the UVic Libraries in 2019, she had been living quietly at home, fighting Parkinson's and a number of other debilitating conditions. She was disappointed to have never returned to England since arriving in Canada at the age of 12 in 1960. She outlived the rest of her family, losing her son Dale in 2017 and her sister Jeanne in 2018, dashing her plans of a travel companion in her retirement. 

In Canada, Joan finished school at Okotoks, in Alberta, and completed some post secondary in Calgary before meeting and marrying Ken Peterson in 1966. Soon after they wed, they moved to Victoria where Joan soon found work as a typist in the Registrar’s Office at the University of Victoria until she became pregnant. She returned to the University in 1970, hired by the UVic Libraries part time. After her second child, she returned once more to UVic libraries where she worked until her retirement. While working, she completed her BA and earned an MA in Anthropology. 

Joan was always surrounded by books and film, loved a good cup of tea and a fantasy novel (she collected books and series by women authors) or a cozy BBC mystery. She was a quilter, writer, and jigsaw puzzler, and even after Parkinson's made it too difficult to do most of the things she loved, she found some digital alternatives to pass the time, completing virtual jigsaw puzzles almost daily. 

She is survived by her eldest, Page DeWolfe, her daughter in law Heather Peterson, and three grandchildren, Rey, Gavin, and Megan.