JOHN DALE PETERS

1936 - 2022

Colonel Peters was born on January 22, 1936 in Logan County, WV to Ida Rene Toney Peters and Alfred Dale Peters.

He died at age 86 at Northeast Methodist in Live Oak, Texas from complications of heart problems and radiation treatments for prostate cancer.

His family moved to Harrisonburg, VA, where he attended school graduating from Harrisonburg High School in June 1954. He joined the Army National Guard in April 1954, and entered the active U.S. Air Force in September 1954. He married his high school sweetheart, Joan Cynthia Kiracofe, in March 1956. Colonel Peters separated from the Air Force in 1958, but remained in the reserves. During this period, he earned a BS in Chemistry from Madison College, now James Madison University.

Colonel Peters was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas in June 1962.

His first assignment as an officer was to Adair Air Station OR, as an Intercept Controller and Director until March 1963. He was then assigned to Okinawa. He returned from overseas to Malstorm AFB, MT until 1966 to Syracuse, NY where he graduated from Syracuse University in 1967, with a Master's of Science in Engineering Management. From there he served at bases in Michigan and Colorado until 1973. In 197, he was assigned to the Air Force Management Engineering Agency (AFEMA) at Randolph AFB, TX. He again went overseas as Manpower Advisor to 3rd AF headquarters at RAF Mildenhall, England. He was then reassigned to Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, from May 1980 to June 1981. He then returned to AFMEA until his retirement in September 1982.

Upon his retirement, he served as Director and Assistant Administrator for the Bexar County Hospital District in San Antonio, TX until 1996. Colonel Peters became a Gentleman rancher raising hay for horses on his small ranch in Guadalupe County. During most of this time he also volunteered for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Colonel Peters was fun loving with a great sense of humor. He had many friends and cherished them all. He never met a stranger.

Colonel was a loving and kind husband and father. He loved his family without reservation. Colonel Peters lost his oldest daughter, Joan Rene, to breast cancer in 1994.

In addition to his wife, Cynthia, Colonel Peters is survived by his son, John Jr. (Pete); daughter and son-in-law Chris Angela and John Rees of Fredericksburg, TX; brother and sister-in-law, Charles and Linda Peters of Mechanicsville, VA; nephew and his family, Tod, Caroline, and Charlie Peters of Richmond, VA; and brother-in-law, Sam Kiracofe and his daughters, Pam and Patti of Harrisonburg, VA. Services will be private with his family.

Memorial donations would be appreciated to Disabled American Veterans, Meals-On-Wheels or the Salvation Army.