Friends here received word of he death of a former long-time resident of the area. Calla Cole Petersen, 87, died Monday, May 16 in a California hospital. Her home was in Roseville, Calif. She was born Nov. 30, 1900.
Mrs. Petersen will be remembered for writing "Calico Corners" a history of Loup City from 1905 to 1910 as she remembered it. She also was the author of other short stories and poems.
Survivors are a daughter-in-law, Doris Petersen, and two grandsons. She was preceded in death by her husband, Clinton, in 1979 and her only child, a son, Norm, in 1973.

REMEMBER CALLA? Do you remember the Calideo-scope column in The Press-Tribune? Calla Petersen, as society editor, wrote the column. It was about weddings, births, funerals, Boy Scouts, PTA, and other social events. Calla came to Roseville, and The Press-Tribune, in 1956 and retired in 1980. She was a very young 80 years old at her retirement. Calla first entered the world in Nebraska on November 30, 1900. She enjoyed writing poetry from the time she was very young. She developed an excellent memory from memorizing her poems as a little girl. She was eventually elected president of the Nebraska State Poetry Association for 2 years of her life. Calla wrote a book of original poetry called "Cache Of Light." It was published in 1952. The book was made up entirely of bright cherry poems. During her years at The Press-Tribune prose were more her style, in 1981 she had a book published called "Calico Corners," an "Excursion Into Remembering." The book tells about Loup City, Nebraska from the years 1905-1910. It goes through every house and parcel of land in the town and tells who lived there and a little something about them. Seventy copies of the book sold in minutes at one of the town reunions. I asked Calla to tell me about an exciting event in her career. She told me about a time she attended church with President Truman and his family when he stopped in her town. She worked for her Nebraska town newspaper at the time. She sat among the Washington newsmen during the service and enjoyed covering the story. Another side of her life was her marriage of 59 years, until her husband passed away in 1979. She had one son and now has 1 grandchild plus 4 great grandchildren. During her years at The Press Tribune she was known as an interesting, kind, and fun person. She walked to work almost every day and still does a lot of walking. She says lately she spends a lot of time raking leaves. If you're fortunate enough to have trees in your yard you know what that's like! Calla Petersen has led an interesting life. She shows us age does not always interfere with keeping active. Thank you, Calla, for your inspiring example.
Wednesday, November 21, 1984 THE PRESS-TRIBUNE - Page 20∼Writer for Press-Tribune newspaper in Roseville,CA.