Peitz was born as Maria Elisabeth Specht on 25 February 1913 in her parent’s home in the small town of Neuenkirchen, in Rietberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, as the youngest of four children. Aged 10, she transferred to a girls’ school in Wiedenbrück and then attended a commercial school in Gütersloh for one year.

Peitz worked in a delicatessen in Duisburg, and in 1940, took over her parent’s grocery store, which sold, among other things, toys, wicker products, and prams. She married farmer Peter Peitz, who died in 1975. The couple had no children.

The following year, Peitz retired from running the business, but volunteered frequently in various groups, and partook in several activities in the community. Up until the age of 88, Peitz regularly performed on stage for KFD Neuenkirchen Theatre, a group that she co-founded over half a century earlier.

In 2015, Peitz moved into a Neuenkirchen retirement home after her home was burgled. On her 109th birthday, she claimed the secret to her longevity was “[being] good and hardworking, and also [sleeping] a lot.” She never smoked and drank little alcohol. Two of her sisters lived to be nonagenarians.