Mia Peterson

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has officially declared Friday as Mia Peterson Day in Iowa, marking what would have been Mia’s 50th birthday. She died in 2021.

Born in Sioux City in 1973, Mia grew up in Webster City, graduated from Webster City High School in 1993, and went on to become what Reynolds called “a model of public service.” She was recently honored in a new exhibit at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines as one of “ten Iowans of action,” whose life work of advocacy on behalf of others, made an important difference in Iowa history.

The governor’s proclamation cited some of Mia Peterson’s many accomplishments, including her appointment to the Iowa Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities in 1996, her distinction as the first person with Down Syndrome to sit on the board of the National Down Syndrome Society, and her 1997 plenary address to the National Down Syndrome Congress.