Katherine Ayer was born in Barnwell on November 24th, 1944, in the backseat of a car at her Grandmama Creech’s house. She graduated from Barnwell High School in 1963. She was elected Homecoming Queen her senior year. She was also the Drum Majorette in the school band.

Katherine attended the University of South Carolina where she earned her Associate Degree in Secretarial Science and met her husband, Don Peterson. Don and Katherine got married on January 16th, 1965.

While living in the Friarsgate subdivision of Irmo, SC, they had their daughter, Kristen, on December 11th, 1977. Six months after moving to their house on Lake Murray in Ballentine, SC, their son, Terry, was born on October 20th, 1979.

Katherine was always involved in church and school activities, helping out wherever she could. She was known for the sweets she would always have prepared, no matter what time guest came over. Kristen and Terry would regularly bring friends over at all hours of the night and could expect to have freshly baked cookies and cake.

Katherine loved to tailgate at USC football games with her family.  She got to travel all over the United States and see both of her children get married.  She passed away on July 11, 2006 of small cell lung cancer.  A majority of the proceeds from this cookbook will be donated to cancer research so that maybe one day a family will be spared the loss of a loved one to cancer that we experienced.


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