Frances Y. Craven was born July 30, 1924, on the historic Craven Open Buckle Ranch located in the Badlands near Wanblee, South Dakota, to Theodore "Ted" and Charlotte (Gilchrist) Craven. 

Part of the Open Buckle Ranch known was Wolf Table was her land and this was extremely precious to her.  She was proud of her great-grandfather, William McGaa, who was a mountain man and one of the original founders of the city of Denver, Colorado.  William McGaa's daughter, Frances Peterson's grandmother, Jessie, M. McGaa, together with Gus Craven founded the Open Buckle Ranch and of this she was most proud.

She grew up on the ranch and graduated valedictorian from Wanblee High School in 1942.  She attended Pacific University in Hillsboro, Oregon, where she obtained her teaching certificate.  Frances taught school in Western South Dakota and in North Dakota.

Frances was united in marriage to Stanley D. Peterson on September 8, 1952, at Rapid City.  They made their home in Redding, California, from 1952 until returning to the land she so dearly loved, Kadoka, South Dakota, in 1968.  They have continued to make their home in Kadoka.

Frances attended the Kadoka Presbyterian Church.  She was the director of the Head Start program in North Dakota for a couple of years.

Grateful for having shared her life are her husband, Stanley D. Peterson of Kadoka; a son and his wife, Casey and Kathy Peterson and their son, Tanister Peterson, of Rapid City; and two sons, Casey Hobbs Peterson and Austin Dean Peterson, both of Fort Worth, Texas; a daughter and her husband, Robin Peterson-Lund and Arne Lund and their two children, Arne Lund III and Skye Frances Lund, all of Kadoka; a sister, Theda Rae Craven of Rapid City; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Cornelius Craven and one brother in infancy; two sisters, Cecil McDonald and one in infancy, Elaine Carol Craven.

Services
Saturday, June 10, 1995
10:00 a.m.
Presbyterian Church
Kadoka, South Dakota

Officiating
Reverend Gary McCubbin
Father David Cameron

Music
Jean Weller - Organist
Susan Davidson, Joyce Wheeler, & Lynden Ireland - Vocalists

Ushers
Vernon Uhlier - Bruce Rampelberg

Pallbearers
Adil Ameer - Francis Guptill
Arne Lund - Chuck Tinant
John Mitchell - Ed Risse

Honorary Pallbearers
Tuffy Riggins - Dean Heints
Will Lantis - Barry Barber
Frank Bauman - Governor Bill Janklow

Interment
Kadoka Cemetery
Kadoka, South Dakota