Pauline Peters
- Published: November 29, 2018
Pauline Peters with husband Andy ca. 1946
Pauline Peters, of Yellow Springs, died Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, at Friends Care Assisted Living Center. She was 92 years old. Born Jan. 14, 1926, in Chicopee, Mass., she was the daughter of George N. Benoit and Frances Sophia Krukowski.
Pauline lived in Yellow Springs for 47 years. She arrived from Massachusetts in 1947 after marrying Andy Peters in Longmeadow, Mass., while he attended Antioch College as a member of the class of 1950. They lived in post-WWII married students housing. After raising two children while living in homes on Stafford Street and Fairfield Pike, Pauline and Andy retired to Venice, Fla. in 1991. While in Florida, they enjoyed the beaches, and Pauline enjoyed the Bird Bay pool where they lived. She returned to Yellow Springs in 2015 to reside at the Assisted Living apartments at Friends Care Center.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew Peters III, in 2006. She is survived by her son, James Peters (Laura), of Newport, Ky.; her daughter Patricia Peters, of Yellow Springs; and her sister, Mary Benoit Osterneck, of Glenside, Pa., as well as many nieces and nephews.
Pauline loved words, crossword puzzles, newspapers, and literature, and read voraciously. The daily crossword puzzle was a staple of her day and she proudly completed The New York Times Magazine puzzle weekly. Although she was in her 90s, she had a remarkable memory and grasp of current affairs and personalities. Her rooms were filled with novels which she loaned and shared among friends and acquaintances. She loved listening to music, with Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis among her favorites. In her younger years, she played bridge with her friends, bowled and learned to play a decent game of golf. When she first lived in Yellow Springs, she was a familiar sight cruising through Luttrell’s/Weaver’s grocery store, quipping with employees and shoppers.
Pauline had a great sense of humor, clever and sharp-witted. She had friends of all ages and opened her heart to them all.
Most of all, Pauline loved baseball and was a Yankees fan for over 80 years. While living in Ohio she adopted the Reds long enough to enjoy the Big Red Machine, and while in Florida she adopted the Rays and enjoyed their pennant-winning seasons. She used to listen to WLW Reds games broadcast by Waite Hoyt, Al Michaels and Marty Brennaman and score the game in her unique style on a steno pad.
Pauline’s favorite baseball quote: “Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall all alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.” (Bart Giamatti)
Next spring, when you watch a baseball game, think of Pauline.
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Polly Peters was much, much more than my childhood friend’s and golf buddy’s mother. She was one of my favorite adults. She was witty, intelligent and a steadfast mentor. Who else would spend a half hour teaching me how to fold a pair of socks? By the time I reached her sock-folding standard, I had folded all of the socks in her laundry basket – brilliant. As I watch the members of the Greatest Generation from Yellow Springs move on to the Great Beyond, I am struck by how their value system is deeply embedded in my generation despite our occasional deviation.