Judith Hunter

Judith Mary Hunter (Peterson) died peacefully in her sleep on September 2, 2026, at her home at Mayfair Village Assisted Living in Columbus, Ohio. Her family would like to thank the staff of Mayfair Village Assisted Living and Suncrest Hospice for the loving care they provided.

Judith was preceded in death by her parents, Edgar M. and Arlene M. (Goltz) Peterson of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; her biological parents, Virginia Ruth Gard and Clarence William Peacock; several biological siblings, including her half-sister, Eileen Peterson, with whom she connected very late in life; her former husband and the father of her children, Rodney Hunter; her brother and sister-in-law, James and Barbary Peterson of Bruce, Wisconsin; her nephews, Bryan Peterson of Weyerhaeuser, Wisconsin, and Blaine Peterson of Turtle Lake, Wisconsin; and her special cousins, Mariel and Bob Knoch of Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Judith is survived by her son, Scott Hunter of Columbus, Ohio; her daughter, Stephanie Hunter of Columbus, Ohio; her grandchildren, Jacob Alexander (Elizabeth) Shinnick of Delaware, Ohio, Zachary Lawrence Shinnick of Irwin, Pennsylvania, and Bayley Elizabeth (Matthew) Seidel of Columbus, Ohio; her great-grandchildren, Cloud Alexander Shinnick and Haven Elizabeth Shinnick of Delaware, Ohio; her step-grandchildren, Mikaela, Rhiannon, Brooke, and Mercedes Stewart; her nephew, Jay (Julie) Peterson of Ladysmith, Wisconsin; and her cousins, Chery Munns, Duffy Smith, and Heather Bell of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She will also be missed by a group of high school classmates who have reunited annually for a luncheon since 1958, as well as by her many close friends in both Columbus and Wisconsin.

Born Carol Jean Buettner in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on March 28, 1940, Judith was adopted in infancy and lovingly raised by Edgar M. and Arlene M. Peterson in Eau Claire. Later in life, she learned about her biological family through DNA testing, including the identities of her birth parents, Virginia Ruth Gard and Clarence William Peacock. Although circumstances prevented her from knowing most of her biological relatives personally, she was grateful to connect with her half-brother, Mike Feuerstein; her half-sister, Eileen Peterson; and her niece, Kristyna Gibson.

Judith grew up in Eau Claire. She graduated from The Campus School in 1954 and was a member of the first class to graduate from the new Memorial High School in 1958. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.

During grade school, Judith was published in Badger History Magazine for her report about a class visit to a school serving Native American students in Black River Falls. She served on the Red Cross team and, as a fifth grader, starred as Princess Lenore in the University College Players’ production of James Thurber’s “Many Moons.” In eighth grade, she became a moderator of a teen-time panel on the new WEAU-TV Channel 13, one of the channel’s first live programs. Judy also participated in the Footlighters Club, Girl Reserves, and The News, where she and a classmate wrote a gossip column for the weekly school newspaper called “The Broom—We Sweep Up All the Dirt.”