Donald Franklin Peterson 1935 - 2019

PETERSON, MCCUNE, KOETTERS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/7/2019 at 22:45:38

Donald Franklin Peterson
April 1, 1935 ~ May 26, 2019 (age 84)

Donald Franklin Peterson, 84, of Sloan, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, May 26, 2019, at Pleasant View Care Center in Whiting, Iowa after a courageous battle with cancer.

Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M. Friday, May 31, 2019 at Skien Lutheran Church, rural Sloan, Iowa with Pastor Craig Bock officiating. Burial will be in Westfork Township Cemetery, Climbing Hill, Iowa with Masonic Rites by Attica Lodge No. 502 A.F. and A.M. of Sloan, Iowa. Military Honors will be provided by the United States Army and the Smith-Rhodes American Legion Post #295 of Sloan, Iowa. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service in Onawa, Iowa.

Donald Franklin Peterson was born on April 1, 1935, in Sloan, Iowa, to Lawrence Peterson and Irene McCune. He was raised by his grandparents, Harley “Mac” and Dessie McCune, in Hornick, Iowa. He graduated from Hornick High School in 1954, and then attended Wayne State Teachers College in Wayne, Nebraska.

He married Carol Lynn Koetters on May 19, 1955, in Elk Point, South Dakota.

Donald served in the United States Army from June 1955 to September 1958 at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and in Orleans, France. Following an honorable discharge, Don and Carol settled in the Riverside neighborhood of Sioux City, Iowa.

He worked driving trucks to haul cement, concrete blocks, gas, anhydrous ammonia, and oil. In 1961, he began working for Standard Oil, delivering fuel, oil, and gasoline for Jim Lane in Sioux City. In 1966, Don got his own Standard Oil territory in and around Sloan. His business grew to include the Salix, Hornick, and Smithland areas. Don moved his family to Smithland in 1973. Don also worked as an over-the-road trucker in these years, hauling beef to the West Coast and produce back to the Midwest.

In 1985, Don and Carol Lynn moved to Cleburne, Texas, where he drove an oil tank semi delivering fuel in and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. By 1990, Don and Carol Lynn settled in Big Spring, Texas, where Don was a working cowboy at the Click Family Ranch. Don loved the outdoor work, the time riding and training horses, and the opportunities to compete in cuttings with his horses, especially “Doc’s Peppy Swensen.”

When the Click Family Ranch shut down in 2010, Don and Carol Lynn returned to live in Sloan. He continued his driving career as a bus driver for Westwood Community Schools until February 15, 2019.

Don was a longtime member of Skien Lutheran Church in Albaton and served on its board. He was a Master Mason and a 50+ year member of Attica Lodge No. 502 A.F. and A.M. of Sloan.

Don was preceded in death by his cherished wife, Carol Lynn Peterson, and his daughter, Nancy Lynn (Peterson) Richards.

He is survived by his children (spouses), Wendell Annette “Wendy Ann” (John) Bonaiuto of Lincoln, NE and Donald Ray (Lori) Peterson of Sioux City, IA; grandsons, Hoss Melton and Lee Peterson; and a great-granddaughter, Alexis Melton.

Memorials in Don’s memory may be directed to Skien Lutheran Church, 11929 Aspen Avenue, Sloan, Iowa 51055, or to Burgess Health Center Hospice, 1600 Diamond Street, Onawa, Iowa 51040.

Condolences may be left online for the family at www.rushfamilycareservice.com