Longtime Point Dume resident Kathy Peterson-Fikaris, 82, died on Sept. 8 with hospice. Her three children, Kim, Kevin and Kerrie Peterson-Richeda, were at her side; she had raised them at Pt. Dume since moving there in 1956. She was a Realtor at John Douglas and later, Fred Sands Real Estate Co.
She was born Kathleen Marcia Gale on Aug. 15, 1935, in Fergus Falls, Minn. The family moved west to Santa Monica, where Kathy and her two older sisters attended Lincoln Junior High and then Samohi, where she met Tom “Pete” Peterson. They were married before he was drafted and deployed to Berlin. In 1952, as a junior at Samohi, Kathy helped pay the down payment—$1,950—for a lot on Wandermere Road with her earnings from The Aero Theater on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.
“Kathleen was a ‘get her done’ kind of woman,” a loved one said. Her mother, Lillian, dubbed her “the fiery one,” a totally accurate description of her youngest daughter. She loved garage sales and a deal, and was expert in her ability to negotiate. “Pity the poor vendor who underestimated the four-foot, 10-inch ball of fire,” a loved one said. Her late husband, Luke, loved to regale tales of Kathy taking on a Bedouin vendor in Egypt. The vendor left muttering in Arabic, hands shaking, aboard his camel, disbelieving the fiery one below him who had just done him after a heated 45-minute sales session. Just another day for Kathy. The fiery one indeed.
Saint Paul, be warned!
Kathy’s remains were cremated at Valley Oaks Crematory in Westlake Village. She requested that her ashes be scattered beneath one of her favorite eucalyptus trees on the Wandermere property, next to her late husband and love of her life, Lucas Fikaris.
A private memorial will be held at the Malibu West Beach Club to celebrate her life.