Lucile Peterson Macera

Lucile Ellen Peterson Macera, 96, died on August 22, 2025, in Ithaca, New York. She was born on September 20, 1928, in Corning, New York, the youngest daughter of Clifford Peterson and Maude Budd. She married Louis Anthony Macera in 1964.

Lucile was the youngest of "the Peterson girls", as they were known. She grew up on a dairy and tobacco farm in Corning, in a house that her maternal grandparents built and in which her mother was born and lived her entire life. The farm was completely self-sufficient, with beef and milk, pork, chickens, and eggs, fish from the Chemung River, fruit trees, grape vines, and a large vegetable garden. Her maternal grandmother, who lived with them, taught her to sew, as well as other needlework. Her paternal grandfather, who arrived in the U.S. from Hofterup , Malmöhus, Sweden at the age of 6, and grandmother lived on another nearby farm. Lucile started working as a young child, pulling the "suckers" off the tobacco plants, and taking the cows across the road to the pasture in the morning and bringing them back at the end of the day.

Lucile graduated from Corning High School in 1946 and was valedictorian. She received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Alfred University in 1950 and one year of Master-level social work at University of Connecticut.

During her long life, she worked as a social worker in Child Protective Services for Steuben County, a secretary for Metropolitan Life, and an administrative aide at Cornell University. After her retirement, she wrote The Lost Resort: The Story of Crystal Springs, Its Hotels and Water Cures, as well as a number of magazine articles.

She was predeceased by her parents, husband, and sisters, Dorothy Wheeler of Dundee, NY, Evelyn Baetzel of Corning, NY, and Helen Randall, of Payson, AZ. She is survived by her daughters, Julie Peterson of Ithaca, NY and Anne Macera Lanphere (Brian) of Willseyville, NY; grandchildren Dion and Jason Kinsey, Rachel Lanphere Zimmer (Matt) and Brian L. Lanphere; four great-grandchildren, five nephews, and one niece.

Her ashes will be buried in East Lawn Cemetery beside her husband.