‘Potato queen’ Georgia Peter dies at 85

Georgia Peter of Sebastopol, known for selling heirloom potatoes at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market and other markets for more than 30 years, died unexpectedly Friday of flu and heart failure. She was 85.

“She was known as the potato queen,” said her son, Larry Peter, owner of the Petaluma Creamery, maker of Springhill Jersey Cheese. “She was a very lovable person with an Irish wit.”

She was born Georgia Robert Dowdall in Alameda on May 21, 1929, and grew up in Petaluma, a fourth-generation member of a large Sonoma County agricultural clan, a tradition she continued with her own four children.

“When we picked prunes when we were kids, she was right there with us, showing us how to work,” Larry Peter said. “There were originally seven people who started the Santa Rosa Farmers Market in 1974, and Mom was one of them.”

Georgia Peter also sold her Georgia’s Potatoes at farmers markets in Sonoma, Petaluma, St. Helena and Marin County. She retired from the farmers markets in 2006.

Her daughter, Linda Duckhorn of Sebastopol, said Georgia was much loved by her regular customers at the farmers markets.

“She had the capacity to accept everybody with unconditional love. She was real. She was genuine. She had a twinkle in her eye and a story to tell,” Duckhorn said.

For Georgia Peter, a high point of her life was a trip to Ireland in 2000 with a dozen friends and family, her son said. She was very proud of her Irish heritage.

Georgia married Virgil Peter on Oct. 26, 1953, in Reno, Nev. Virgil Peter, who spent 38 years as a mill worker before retiring, still lives in Sebastopol.

Other survivors include two other sons, Gary Peter in Sonoma and Tom Peter of Sebastopol; a brother, Edward Nicholas Dowdall of Santa Rosa; eight grandchildren and 10 great-granchildren.

Services are pending at Pleasant Hills Memorial Park in Sebastopol.