Rita G. Petersen; Retired Teacher

Rita G. Petersen, who taught at San Fernando Valley elementary schools for 35 years, died last week at a Burbank hospital. She was 62.

A longtime North Hollywood resident, Mrs. Petersen died Friday of complications of recent surgery, said her husband, Kenneth Petersen.

Born in Chicago, she moved to California in 1948 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Cal State L.A. Mrs. Petersen, who specialized in phonics and taught first through third grades, retired in 1989 from Van Nuys Elementary School. She began her teaching career in 1954 at Oxnard Street School in North Hollywood and later taught at Dixie Canyon Avenue School in Sherman Oaks, where she was honored by the school’s PTA.

She was a lifetime member of the PTA, was a member of the California Retired Teachers Assn. and had volunteered at the Valley Reading Center and the Joslyn Adult Center in Burbank.

In addition to her husband of 37 years, Mrs. Petersen is survived by her son, Dale Petersen of Toluca Lake; daughter, Cheryl Cox of Imnaha, Ore.; sister, Jean Wheeler of Reseda; and one grandson.

A funeral, with burial to follow, is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Church of the Hills at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Forest Lawn Mortuary, Hollywood Hills, is handling the arrangements.

Donations can be made in Mrs. Petersen’s name to the Women’s Care Cottage, P.O. Box 451, Van Nuys 91408, or to the American Cancer Society.