Zoé Bakéeff Petersen died Nov. 1, 2015, surrounded by her family, at her home in Middleburg, Va., following a short illness.
She was born Zoé André Bakéeff on May 7, 1922, in Baden-bei-Wein, Austria, where her Russian émigré parents were in transit from Italy to Germany, and subsequently to the United States. Both had been rescued in late 1920 by Allied naval vessels from the Crimea at the end of the Russian Civil War. Last year she completed and published a book titled “From Zoé to Zika” about the lives of her parents’ and her ancestors in Imperial Russia.
Zoé was raised in Weston, Mass., and attended local schools through high school. She graduated from Radcliffe College with a degree in fine arts. In 1941, as a freshman she met her future husband, Edward Schmidt Petersen, at a Harvard dance. They were married in 1944. When Edward finished medical school in 1945, they moved to Newport, R.I., where Edward served for two years in the Army Medical Corps, after which they moved to Chicago.
Summers were spent at Black Point in Lake Geneva, where Edward’s great-grandfather, Conrad Seipp, had built a summer house for his large family. The house is now owned by the State of Wisconsin, operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society, and is open to the public. Fifteen years ago they bought a house in Middleburg, Va., in which to spend winters and to be close to their two children’s families.
Zoé, known to all as Zika, participated actively in many civic organizations throughout her life. In Chicago, she was a member of the Women’ Board of the Art Institute and was instrumental in creating its children’s museum.
She also was a member of the Antiquarian Society of the Art Institute. She was a Life Trustee of The Newberry Library and an honorary director of the Guild of the Chicago History Museum. She was a member of The Friday Club and The Racquet Club. In Lake Geneva, she was a member of The Lake Geneva Yacht Club for 70 years, a dedicated member and past president of The Lake Geneva Garden Club, and past president and life trustee of Horticultural Hall.
She was an early campaigner for conservation and environmental issues. She was a member of the Garden Club of America and could be found outside most of the day, spring to fall, armed with spade and trowel. She loved entertaining, and being entertained by, a legion of friends.
She was devoted to her family, near and far, particularly to her own children and grandchildren, whom she supported tirelessly. As a storyteller she had no peer. She never tired of recounting the lives and many adventures of her Russian ancestors.
Zika is survived by her daughter, Catherine P. Mack, of The Plains, Va., and her son, Edward B. Petersen, of Washington, D.C.; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. She will be buried at a family ceremony in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago in late November. A celebration of her life is being planned for next summer in Lake Geneva.
Memorial contributions in her name may be made to The Newberry Library at go.newberry.org/petersen or 60 West Walton St., Chicago IL 60610; to Horticultural Hall, the Geneva Area Foundation, P.O. Box 71, Lake Geneva WI 53147; or to Black Point Estate, The Wisconsin Historical Foundation, P.O. Box 260050, Madison WI 53726-9900 c/o Angela Davis.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.roystonfh.com.
