Hundreds mourn Peterson

More than 400 friends, family and fellow students turned out at St. Richard’s Catholic Church to pay their respects to Taylor Peterson, the 17-year-old Columbia Falls volleyball player who died of cancer.

Peterson fought cancer for more than 18 months. She died Dec. 10.

“Taylor loved rollercoasters, sleep-overs and the time she got to spend with friends and family,” her aunt Brenda Wittlake said.

Peterson always kept a positive attitude, even in her darkest hours, Wittlake said.

“ ‘No matter how hard life gets, stay positive,’” Wittlake recalled Taylor saying.

“She was an amazing person,” classmate and friend Alex Presnell said. “She could cheer you up no matter what the situation.”

Peterson befriended Presnell when he was a shy freshman. He credited her for making friends at Columbia Falls and admired her outgoing attitude and spirit.

“She wasn’t a quitter,” he said. “She was a doer.”

Presnell, who plays on the varsity basketball team, said he was dedicating his season to her. He had a warning for the heavens.

“God doesn’t know what kind of kid he’s getting,” Presnell joked. “(Taylor), don’t boss him around too much.”

Pastor Levi Lusko said Taylor’s life lesson was that we should get our own lives in order and that while the service was one of mourning, it was also a celebration of a life well lived.

Peterson’s battle against cancer and subsequent fundraisers brought the Columbia Falls and Flathead Valley community together, raising more than $50,000 for her final wish, which was to travel to Hawaii.

But she became too ill. Most of the money now will go toward a scholarship or other appropriate fund in her name, donors have said.