where she was heading for the day

From inside the fifth-floor office at Hutchinson's First National Bank, everything from the desk and chairs to the computer monitor and blossoms in the vase, was white. This was Lou's space, where she operated the Lou Peel Institute, booking motivational-speaking events, and dreaming her dreams, setting goals and achieving them.

The author of two non-fiction books, "Secrets of Counting Colors" and "Motivation: Opportunities Will Come Your Way," Peel also wrote a fictional love story, "Angelia."

There was no one more suited to write a motivational book, said her son.

"She was the most positive person I ever met," Bill said. "She spent her entire life being positive and exuded a positive energy. She believed you could do anything if you put your mind to it. She was a huge believer in goal-setting."

Every January she would ask Bill if he had set his goals. He discovered a list of 35 goals for one year tucked in her Bible. He's certain she achieved each one.

In "Motivation," Lou Peel wrote about the importance of liking oneself and dreaming about what one wanted in life,Home energy monitor then setting goals and prioritizing them. She urged people to take risks and move out of their comfort zones.

"Negative is not for the person who wants to advance," Lou Peel wrote in 2004. "Make one step to the positive each day and after 21 days it becomes the habit that will take you far in life."

A native of Hutchinson, she was born Esther "Lou" Benson. Her first job was as an usherette at the Fox Theatre.

"At midnight the police would come by and drive her to the bank depository," Bill said. "But they never gave her a ride home. She had to walk home about a mile on East Avenue B. Back then, the world was a safer place. At least we thought it was."

She married Bob Peel in January 1947 and they took the train to Chicago for their honeymoon. She is survived by Bob; sons Bill, Omaha, Neb., and Bob Jr., Hutchinson; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

A goal was to attend every wedding of her grandchildren. She achieved that goal in April when the last two grandchildren were married.

"She taught me to live every day to the fullest and be positive," said granddaughter Lindsay Marquardt. "She was adamant that it was a choice to have a bad day or a good day."

Bill Peel called his mother "the ambassador of Hutchinson." She loved her community. She and Bob built Peel's Beauty Supply into a company with more than 500 employees. She also branched out on her own. After graduating from the Chicago School of Interior Design in 1968, she worked for Bob Ging, decorating the new homes he built.

Through it all, her positive attitude was her trademark. It came in handy back on June 14, 1985, when she and Bob Peel Sr., Bob Peel Jr. and his wife, Kris, were returning from a six-day cruise they had won as top distributors of Redken products through their business.

When the Peels boarded TWA Flight 847 in Athens, Greece, none of them could sit together, the family later told The News. Their earlier flight had been canceled and they got the last four seats on the flight. A pair of Lebanese gunmen commandeered the jet with 152 passengers and crew members. Lou was among the first hostages to be released in Cypress. She comforted others in the group, Bill Peel said, as they awaited news of their loved ones and fellow travelers.

A Navy diver, Robert D. Stethem, was killed during the ordeal. Hijackers released other hostages over the next 15 days, with the ordeal ending for the last 39, including Bob Peel Jr., on June 30. It ended after Israel's release of 31 Lebanese prisoners.

The experience, more than anything, reassured Lou of her deep-rooted values. Not for one second did it turn her off from traveling or experiencing life.

"She taught me patience, and not to sweat the small things and enjoy life," said Lou's daughter-in-law Susan Peel.

Bill recalled a mother who found her inspiration in the Bible, which she read every morning as she ate half a banana and drank a cup of coffee.

Then, no matter where she was heading for the day, even if it was to have coffee at Fraese with her sister Margaret Bowles and Scott and Steve Saylor, she would dress up as if she was headed to the Town Club for dinner.
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