Dorothy “Dusty” Peters

Dorothy (Dusty) Peters, 93, died peacefully on May 3 in Wayne, New Jersey, just a few weeks shy of her 94th birthday. Dusty and her husband, Louis (Lou) Peters made their annual trip to Florida this winter. While in Florida, Dusty fell in early February. Even though her health steadily declined since her fall, she and Lou were able to share their 38th wedding anniversary together in February. They both relished their time together in what would be her final trip to her beloved Siesta Key.  

Dusty was born May 30, 1926 in Hackensack, NJ to Fred and Ruth (Porter) Coyle, and was raised in Hasbrouck Heights. Her father died during the Depression when she was ten, but her mother Ruth raised and put her children through college by returning to teaching. Ruth was made of tough stock and taught her children self-reliance, a lesson her daughter would value later in life.

While in high school, Dusty shed her childhood nickname of Dotsy, and the new name Dusty was born. Dusty attended Douglas College, the former women’s college of Rutgers University, and graduated in 1948 with a degree in English. She met her first husband, Howard (Howie) Warner, through a college friend, and by 1949, they were married in the First United Methodist Church in Hasbrouck Heights.

Dusty and Howie started a family right away. Her son, Steve (Rita) Warner, and daughter, Jeanne (Michael) DiMonte were already born when they bought their first home at Packanack Lake in Wayne, NJ in 1953. Another daughter Lauri (Hoyt) Masur, and son Bill Warner (Chet Gibas) followed, as did two other Packanack homes to fit the growing family.

Howie died suddenly in 1973. Dusty faced the challenge her mother Ruth had faced with the same grace and determination. Like her mother, Dusty returned to work at a time when most moms did not work outside the home. She began working for New Jersey Bell (now Verizon) in 1974 and stayed there until she retired in 1986. And like her mother, Dusty kept her family together and strong.

In 1981, Dusty met Lou, a fellow Packanack Laker and recent widower, through their mutual involvement with the Packanack Community Church. Dusty and Lou married in 1982 at the same church which meant so much to both of them. Her family grew to include three stepdaughters: Cindy Stucchi; Lynn Dolan; and Missy (Bruce) Thoet; as well as a growing cadre of grandchildren and eventually, great grandchildren.

Dusty and Lou balanced their lives as empty nesters with their role as the head of a large and loving family. They travelled the world to exotic locales, including far-flung adventures to Russia and Australia. But they also made time to meld old traditions with new traditions for the Peters-Warner clan. One example was the annual Easter Egg hunt, which became a cherished memory not just for the grandchildren, but for the kids in the community who were welcomed to join. Many of those kids returned to Packanack Lake as adults to raise their own children, in part for the strong sense of community Dusty and Lou helped to create.

There are many ways to remember Dusty – a deeply intelligent, wry woman who also cared deeply about others; a skilled card player who relished the social interaction of a good game more than the win; an eternally optimistic golfer; a resilient cancer survivor; a pie-maker extraordinaire. But in her final months, Dusty made two comments which stand out. She said that some people went through life without finding their great love, but somehow, she was blessed with two. And she said the one job she loved most was being a mom.

Her greatest legacy is her family that she loved so deeply, and her greatest gifts are the values, courage, and grit she endowed on her descendants, as her mom had endowed to her.

In addition to her husband Lou and their children, Dusty is survived by thirteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren: Nicole (nee DiMonte) and Jeremy Diroff, and their son Elliott; Leslie (nee Warner) and Frank Aguilar; Jonathan and Kristine DiMonte, and their daughters Grace, Julia, and Adelyn; Erica (nee Stucchi) and Scott Ferkler, and their son, Jackson; Peter Dolan; Timothy and Allison Dolan, and their daughters Cara and Cali; Elise (nee Stucchi) and David Holmes; Emma Masur and Ben Allen; Megan Masur; Ashley Thoet; Amanda Thoet; Annaliese Thoet and her fiancé, John Woltornist; and Austin Thoet. She is predeceased by her first husband Howard; her parents; her brother and sister in law, Don and Kay Coyle; her son-in-law, Tim Dolan; and her grandson, Jesse Warner.