VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Peggy Lee would have been 100 years old. She was born in Jamestown, North Dakota as Norma Delores Egstrom on May 26th, 1920. She passed away at the age of 81 in 2002.
Peggy Lee’s career started at the age of 16 on KOVC Radio in Valley City, North Dakota before she went on to bigger venues of entertainment.
Ken Kennedy of WDAY Radio in Fargo talked her into changing her stage name to Peggy Lee.
Local musician and orchestra leader, Myron Sommerfeld said Peggy Lee went on to become an international star on both sides of the ocean. Sommerfeld talked about her career with reporter Steve Urness on our Voice of the Valley program.
In May of 2012, the Peggy Lee museum opened in Wimbledon, ND with a number of fun events over a two day period in Jamestown and Wimbledon. One highlight during the 2012 event was when a train roared by the railroad depot while singer Stacy Sullivan was singing Peggy Lee’s 1945 hit “Waitin’ For The Train To Come In” the crowd roared with applause.
The museum focuses on Peggy Lee’s career and is located inside the Midland Continental Depot where she grew up as a young girl. The museum includes photos, dresses, her music and other memorabilia.
For more information about the Peggy Lee Museum in Wimbledon, ND contact Carol Peterson at 701-320-1020.