Sunday, March 10th, 1940 – Friday, October 17th, 2025
Sue Ann Peterson, age 85, passed away peacefully on Friday, October 17, 2025, at Crossroads Care Center.
She was born on March 10, 1940, in Indiana to the late Walter and Donna (Oldham) Ensfield.
Sue attended local schools, including Roosevelt Elementary, McKinley Junior High, and graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School in 1958, where she was Junior Prom Queen in 1957 and highly involved in theatre and choir. She attended Knox College in Galesburg, IL, and graduated from UW-Parkside in 1974 with a BA degree in Economics.
She was first married to Doug Bornhuetter in 1961 and had two sons, David and Jack. They later divorced. In 1977, she married Robert Peterson.
Sue worked many jobs to support herself and her sons while finishing her education. She worked as a bartender at Ron’s Place prior to starting her professional career with Wisconsin Natural Gas Co. in Racine as a supervisor of residential conservation. She would go on to work in the hospitality field as the sales and marketing coordinator with Holiday Inn in Gurnee. She then moved to Galena, IL, to become the sales and marketing director at Eagle Ridge Resort, where she oversaw the expansion of their convention space. From there, she took similar positions at The Voyager Inn in Reedsburg and Best Western InnTowner in Madison. In 1998, she became the Executive Director of the Mount Horeb Chamber of Commerce before winding up her career with Van Galder Bus Co. in Madison as Group Sales Director.
Sue loved art, travel, and jazz music. She was very creative and had a great appreciation for art and an appetite for visiting museums to see great works of art. Painting and sketching gave her joy. She belonged to numerous art groups and attended various art classes. She also belonged to the travel group, Questers. Every year, she traveled to national conventions around the country, enjoying the many friendships that she made. Also, while in the Madison area, she would become heavily involved in the Madison Music Collective. She served as the MMC’s treasurer for over 20 years, helping put on performances and designing promotional material. Sue enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and in 2018, she reconnected with a high school friend, George Lindstrom. They enjoyed traveling, attending car shows, art shows, festivals, drum and bugle corps competitions, and cheering on George’s granddaughters playing volleyball.
Survivors include her children, Dave (Deb) Bornhuetter and Jack (Laura) Bornhuetter; grandchildren, Christopher (Maddy), Michael, and Jacob; great-grandchildren, Luke, Noah, and Grace; nephews Martin (Jan) Sokol, David Sokol, Mike (Nancy) Ensfield, Jeffrey Sherwin, and Andrew Sherwin.
Along with her parents, she is preceded in death by her siblings, Barbara Sherwin, Eleanor Gail, and Robert Ensfield.
A visitation will be held at Proko Funeral Home on Sunday, October 26, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. A service will be held on Monday, October 27, 2025, at Sunset Ridge Memorial Park Chapel at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Madison Music Collective, NPR, or a memory care charity of your choice in Sue’s honor.
