Fern Elizabeth Allen Pettit passed away peacefully on August 11, 2024, at the home of her daughter, Gayle (Tim) Davis, of Freedom, Maine. She was 100.  

Fern was born on a farm in Rock Falls, Illinois on November 28, 1923. Until moving to Maine in 2020 to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Fern was a lifelong Illinois resident, having been raised and educated in the Sterling-Rock Falls area and living many years there as well as in Pontiac, Illinois. During the Second World War, she also lived for a short time in Dayton, Ohio where she worked as a secretary to a general until the war ended. 

Fern married the love of her life, Ray Pettit, on December 30, 1943, in Sterling. It is unlikely they could have known then that they would one day celebrate their seventy-fifth wedding anniversary in 2018. Ray passed away shortly after in early 2019.

Fern was an avid card player and loved to play golf with her friends. She and Ray particularly enjoyed their annual golf trips to Green Lake, Wisconsin with their “Sterling” group. 

They were also blessed with a wonderful group of friends during their Pontiac years, especially their best friends Fred and Donna Pike, with whom they played countless hours of bridge and cribbage and vacationed together often. She would always speak fondly of those years when the Pike and Pettit families would vacation together in Michigan and Wisconsin, frequently managing to schedule their tent camping trips for the coolest and rainiest days of the summer. 

One of Fern’s fondest memories was taking her daughter, Gayle, and daughter-in-law, Denise, along with granddaughters Kimberly, Laura, and Lindsay, to Europe. The memories of their time together continue to live on in the stories that are shared at family dinners and get-togethers. 

Fern was also a wonderful homemaker and devoted parent who enjoyed her involvement in her children’s sports and other extracurricular activities. She also worked periodically at Rock Falls Savings and Loan. Fern was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church in both Sterling and Pontiac. She was of strong faith and looked forward to joining husband Ray again in her next life. 

Surviving are son Reid (Denise) Pettit of Castle Pines, Colorado; daughter Gayle (Tim) Davis; granddaughters Kimberly (Kim Condrey) Davis of Troy, Virginia, Laura (Ben) Brancaleon of Sycamore, Illinois, Lindsay (Noah) Unzicker of Littleton, Colorado, Jessica (David) Hall of Branson, Missouri and great-grandchildren Wayne Unzicker and Waylon and Tyus Hall.

Preceding her in death were her parents Harold and Florence Allen and her husband Ray. 

Fern was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and will be badly missed. 

Donations can be made in her honor to The Livingston County Humane Society and the Pontiac First United Methodist Church of Pontiac, Illinois.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.ripostafh.com