Noble Peterson Obituary

Noble Peterson

Noble Peterson, 93, longtime Lemmon, S.D., area farmer and rancher and World War II fighter pilot, passed away suddenly on March 10, 2009, at St. Alexius Medical Center, Bismarck. A Service of Remembrance will be held at 2 p.m. MDT today, March 14, at Calvary Lutheran Church, Lemmon, with the Rev. Ken Miller officiating. Burial will be in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, south of Mandan. Full military honors will be provided by the Brattvet-Green American Legion Post No. 66 of Lemmon and the South Dakota National Guard Funeral Honors Team.

Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. to noon MDT today at Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home, Lemmon.

Noble Erling Peterson was born Nov. 26, 1915, at New England, to Halvor and Emma (Hoff) Peterson. He grew up on the family farm southwest of Dickinson and attended school in Slope County. He attended and graduated from Dickinson High School and then enrolled at Dickinson State College.

Noble joined the Army on Nov. 6, 1936, and was put on a ship out of San Francisco and sent to Hawaii for basic training. He served in the 19th infantry. Noble served in Hawaii for two and a half years until a shoulder injury caused him to be discharged on June 20, 1939. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Noble knew he would be called up for duty so he reenlisted back in the Army on March 20, 1942, at the same rank he was in prior service, a corporal.

Noble returned to the 11th Armored Battalion but then was sent to Nashville, Tenn., for cadet training. This was the start of Nobles service in the Army Air Corp.

Noble Peterson flew two tours of duty as a fighter pilot - the first tour in the "Dakota Kid," a P-51C. While at home on leave after his first tour, this plane was shot down in Poland while flown by another pilot during a "shuttle bombing" escort mission.

For his second tour, he flew a brand new P-51D, this plane was named "Dakota Kid II." Noble belonged to the 355th Fighter Group, 358th Squadron based at Steeple Morden in Cambridgeshire, England.

Noble flew 106 missions over enemy territory, many of these as squadron commander. He was honorably discharged in 1945. During his service, Noble was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with one Silver and four Gold Oak Leaf Clusters and the European/African Campaign Medal with six Stars.

Noble was united in marriage to Betty Nasset on June 20, 1945, in rural Stark County. To this union, five children were born. Noble always said he was fortunate to live a life surrounded by loving family, wonderful friends and of course, his livestock. He was a legendary horse whisperer long before the term was widely known. His way with animals of all breeds and sizes made them pets rather than just part of a herd. He was part owner of the Lemmon Livestock Yards in the early 1970's, was a member of the Dakota Horse Lover's Saddle Club, a Trustee in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame and was a judge at many rodeos in the area.

Noble was honored to represent Lemmon as Boss Cowman in 1996. He was also honored many times with awards for his cattle, his stewardship of the land and his contribution to many civic and county organizations. He believed none of this would have been possible without Betty and their children. Noble was a loving and nurturing Dad, a true friend and loving mate to his wife, Betty, and had an especially close relationship with his three brothers.

Noble enjoyed inspiring young people in the ways of agriculture and was involved in 4-H and Future Farmers of America. He loved life, especially his relationship with the land, and spent countless hours on horseback, appreciating the freedom of a landowner and the beauty around him. He was an inspiration to all who knew him and will be missed by his family and many friends.

Keeping him in their fondest memories are his three sons and two daughters-in-law, Noel and Marianne Peterson, Canton, S.D., Rollin Peterson, Sedalia, Colo., and Wade and Vickie Peterson, Lemmon; two daughters and sons-in-law, Gail and Gary Ericsson, Lemmon, and Zona and Randy Peterson-White, Springdale, Ark.; eight grandchildren, Brett Ericsson, Brenda Laurenti, Karla Kristianson, Shannon Peterson, Michelle Peterson, Sean Peterson, Scott Sittner and Shane Peterson; six great-grandchildren, Chantal, Macayla and Sean Cain, Justice Sittner, Gianna Laurenti and Alyssa Peterson; one brother, Roman Peterson, Almont; two sisters-in-law, Monica Peterson, Dickinson, and Eunice Nasset, Fargo; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Betty, on Dec. 31, 2007; two brothers, Gilman and Stewart; two brothers-in-law, Erling and Robert Nasset; and four sisters-in-law, Beatrice Peterson, Lillian Peterson, Virginia Peterson and Shirley Nasset.

A memorial has been established by his family. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.evansonjensenfuneralhome.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Bismarck Tribune on Mar. 14, 2009.

Memories and Condolences
for Noble Peterson

2 Entries

Scott Nelson

March 15, 2009

This morning I was thinking about Noble and about the first time I met him just over 10 years ago when I called him about doing an interview about being a veteran aviator. Noble said, “Come on down, we’ll put on the coffee”. I figured maybe I’d be there an hour, hour and a half, turned out I stayed all afternoon, around 5 hours! For the first hour we didn’t even talk about his WW II experiences, we talked cow! Noble had quit the cow/ calf deal and was raising bred heifers at the time, we went out and looked at em. I had such an enjoyable time that day visiting with Noble and Betty, Betty would interject here and there and was always making sure my coffee cup was full and asking if I’d like another bar. After discussing his fighter pilot stories I asked about what he did when he got home. Noble told of his horse wreck not long after his return from the service. Noble was getting on a green bronk just as someone slammed a car hood and the bronk came unglued, Noble ended up breaking his pelvis in half! Spent several months in the hospital unable to move! I think he said it was a whole year before he could roll over in bed, and about 3 years before he could swing his leg over a horse again. How many people after going through such an injury would have quit horses all together, but not Noble, he was still riding horses up into his eighties. Noble told of getting a new hip in later years and couldn’t figure out why he kept dragging one foot when he walked. He brought it up with the doctor and the doctor said his pelvis had healed crooked all those years ago and one leg was shorter than the other, when the doctor put in the new hip he put on an extension to bring everything back into plum, well for all these years Noble had been compensating for a shorter leg and when everything was even again he drug a foot, took awhile to retrain his legs.
I could write much more but I’d better quit.
Thanks Noble and Betty, for letting me swing my legs under your kitchen table and all the visits over the years.

Janitda, RN

March 14, 2009

My sympathy to your family. I was Noble's nurse in Bismarck. It was a great pleasure to care for him, and get to know him. What a wonderful man.

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