Christina (Peterson) Waters
Christina Kay Peterson was born March 2, 1967, to Allan and Patricia Peterson of Spring Grove, MN. Sunday, August 3, 2025, after a short but spirited fight with cancer, Christina Kay Waters rode into Heaven’s wide-open pastures.
Family and friends are invited to join in celebrating Christina’s life Saturday, August 30 from 4-7 p.m. at Empty Nest Winery in Waukon. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the college scholarship fund established in her honor at Waukon State Bank.
Christina was one of the hardest workers you could ever meet - keeping an immaculate home, creating beautiful landscaping, and somehow remembering every phone number and miner’s employee number without ever writing them down. She had a way of making people feel seen and cared for, never needing the spotlight but always shining in her own way - much like the sunflowers she loved, standing tall and bright in the yards she tended so well.
Christina found joy in the outdoors and had a deep love for hiking, especially in the mountains. She also had a lifelong love of horses - cherishing their beauty, spirit, and the quiet comfort of being around them. Simply watching them in the pasture brought her a peace that nothing else could.
Whether she was baking up treats to brighten someone’s day or sending her grandkids text messages packed with more emojis than words, Christina carried herself with quiet strength and steady love. She never met a stranger - making a new friend wherever she went - and she genuinely cared about the people in her life. She had a gift for weaving her Midwest roots into her Western life - keeping one boot planted in Iowa and the other in Montana, and making both feel like home.
She is survived by her husband, Tracy Waters of Belfry, MT; her son, Nick Tilleraas and his wife Brittany, and their children, Dallas, Wade, and Sedona of Waterville; her daughter, Brianne Huiskamp and her husband Payne, and their children, Paysen and Ryggen of Monona; and her stepdaughter, Alicia Waters and her partner John Budweg. She is also survived by her mother and stepfather, Ray and Pat Kirchmeyer of Sparta, WI; her stepmother, Mary Peterson of Rochester, MN; and her siblings, Cindy Peterson of Phoenix, AZ, Eric Peterson of Waverly, NE, Josephine Peters and husband Garrett of Sioux Falls, SD, Jeremiah Kirchmeyer and wife Kari of Mitchell, SD, and Charles Kirchmeyer of Pony, MT, along with many treasured nieces and nephews.
Christina was preceded in death by her father, Allan Peterson; her sister, Emily Peterson; her grandparents, Richard and Donna Barnes, and John and Ruda Peterson; her uncle, David Barnes; and her nephew, Matthew Korkowski.
Her story is one of love, resilience, and faith. While her time here ended far too soon, her legacy will live on in the family she loved fiercely, the friends who became like kin, and the countless lives she touched along the way. Her trail here may have ended, but we picture her now - walking among endless fields of sunflowers, the mountains she loved rising in the distance, and horses grazing peacefully in Heaven’s wide-open pastures.
