Robert "Bob" Petersdorf

Robert “Bob” Petersdorf was born in Sycamore, IL and grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. After leaving school early to pursue work, Bob spent two years as a grocery bagger.

From 1980-1989 Bob was a feeder on six-color printing press at Container Corporation of America in Carol Stram, Illinois.

A spike in gang activity where he was living prompted Bob to move to rural Sparta in May 1992. He helped his father manage and operate the Petersdorf farm. In a variety of ways Bob had come home. In addition to farming with his dad, Bob worked in the logging industry. He eventually started his own logging business. Bob married Linda Ziegler in 1999. He started working at the Mathews Inc. in the machine shop in 2009 and became a fulltime employee on January 25, 2010. In addition to operating two or three machines, Bob was also an important member of the training team in the machine shop. Bob loved working at Mathews Inc. He shared this sentiment expressed countless times in a variety of ways, “Great People!”

Bob enjoyed keeping busy. Linda and he continued to manage the Petersdorf farm in Big Creek Valley, raising hay and corn to feed 25 head of beef cattle and chickens. Bob derived great pleasure from calving. He liked cutting firewood or doing a bit of four-wheeling. He still got a kick out of restoring his 1963 Chevy II.

Bob is survived by his loving wife, Linda of Sparta; his daughters, Lorraine (Tom) Jerome and their children, Hunter, Jenice, Kiera, all of Sparta; Gloria (Jeremy) Nichols and their children, Saige, Trinity, Austin, and Ethan, all of Sparta; and Elizabeth (Jake) Kueker, and their son, Fisher, of Port Barrington, IL. He is further survived by his father, Robert (Rita) Petersdorf, IL; his mother, Judy Hall, Il; a sister, Carol Petersdorf,, Fl; a step-son, Chase (Danielle) Ziegler, of Oregon, WI; his step-brother, Mike (Cindy) Murphy and their sons, Kyle and Colin, IL; two sisters-in-law, Joyce (Warren) Beaver and Rosemary Ziegler; several aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews; and many four legged friends and a grand dog.

Visitation for Bob will be on Sunday, April 22, from 4-7 p.m. at the Lanham-Schanhofer Funeral Home, Sparta. Online condolences may be offered to Bob’s family at www.schanhoferfh.com.

The family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to Bob’s son-in-law, Jeremy for lending a helping hand over the past two years. They would also like to thank the Mayo Clinic Hospice team for the care and compassion provided to Bob.

The Lanham-Schanhofer Funeral Home, Sparta, is assisting the family with funeral arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Robert "Bob" Petersdorf, please visit our floral store.