Peterson, Donald Vernelle (1922-2003)

PETERSON, HANSON, GORDON, KROUT, COX, FREDERICKSEN

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 11/20/2022 at 13:43:52

Daily Freeman Journal
Webster City, Iowa
Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Donald Vernelle Peterson, 81, Webster City, died Sunday, April 27, 2003 at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center at Des Moines. Private graveside services will be held by the Foster Funeral Home with Rev. David Deckard officiating. Burial will be in the Graceland Cemetery. Graveside military rites will be conducted by American Legion Post #191. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday.

Donald Vernelle Peterson, son of Clifford and Pearl Hanson Peterson, was born Jan. 15, 1922 on a farm northeast of Duncombe. He attended rural schools and graduated from Duncombe Public School in 1939. He started farming with his father. On January 24, 1942, he married Bernice Pauline Gordon at Fort Dodge. The couple farmed northeast of Duncombe. In 1945, he served with the U.S. Army in the Corps of Engineers and was discharged in 1946. For nine years, he was employed with the U.S. Postal Service. For 25 years, he was employed by the Webster City, South Hamilton and Stanhope school systems as a custodian and bus driver. The couple had wintered at Donna, Texas for the past 18 years. He retired in 1984.

Mr. Peterson is survived by his wife, Bernice Peterson of Webster City, daughters and sons-in-law, Carol and Herbert Krout, Shirley and Jim Cox, all of Fort Dodge; Janice and Chuck Fredericksen, Webster City; son, Donald V. Peterson Jr., of Des Moines; 11 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Paula Peterson, his parents, brother Richard Peterson, and a brother in infancy.

He was a member of the Washington Lutheran Church in Duncombe, and attended Zion Lutheran Church at Alamo, Texas during the winter. He was a volunteer with the Share Program, a member of American Legion Post #191, and Disabled American Veterans. He enjoyed most sports, stock car racing, parades, meeting new faces and making friends in Texas. He enjoyed all of the family activities. He will be deeply missed by his family and many friends.