Arthur L. Peterson

1926 - 2023

Arthur L. Peterson was born in Glyndon, Minnesota on June 27, 1926 in the parsonage of the Congregational church where his father served as pastor. He passed away on March 22, 2023 in Sun City, CA. The sixth child born to Hilda and J. Martin Peterson, his childhood was spent in small towns in the Midwest - Glyndon, Minnesota and Birnamwood, Prescott, and Mondovi, Wisconsin. As a young man with many interests Peterson became Prescott's first Eagle Scout, won statewide honors in Wisconsin as a speaker and trombone player, and was an avid athlete playing right end on his undefeated high school football team and captaining the basketball team. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1944, he was placed in the officer's training program ultimately receiving a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1947. After completing his undergraduate studies at Yale University in 1947, Peterson went on to earn his Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California in 1948 and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1962. He did additional postgraduate work at the University of Chicago where his mentors were Hans Morgenthau and Leo Strauss. During college, he enjoyed his time as a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity member. He became the nation's youngest state legislator in 1951 when he was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1950. He interrupted his legislative service when he volunteered for duty with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean conflict. He served as an infantry company commander as a Captain in Korea. Shortly before going to Korea he married Connie Lucille Harr. During a career which has combined a continuing interest in higher education and politics he served for twenty years as a college professor in the field of political science at the University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire), and Ohio Wesleyan and as a college dean and president for sixteen years at the American Graduate School of International Management, Lebanon Valley College and Eckerd College. Beyond his academic career he played a central role in many of the major socio-political movements and events of the last half of the twentieth century. As a member of the Wisconsin legislature, he was the leading Republican critic of the tactics of Senator Joe R. McCarthy from 1950-1955; he was Chairman of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission during the early years of the civil rights movement; he was chief-of-staff and co-authored the strategy for the Republican National Committee's rebuilding efforts after the devastating defeats of 1964; he helped develop new dimensions for continuing education programs as Dean of Special Programs at Eckerd College, and he was the long-time director of one of the nation's most honored learning-in-retirement programs, The Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC). As the builder and pilot of an airplane constructed with other members of the ASPEC retirement community, Peterson became the prototype for one of the major characters in James Michener's novel Recessional. In commenting on the death of the character, Ambassador St. Pres, at the hands of an eight-foot rattlesnake, Peterson said: "I think the deadly strike of the rattlesnake may come sooner than I would like, but it will be masked in the form of some worn out arteries of the heart." When Peterson retired from the presidency of Lebanon Valley College, after having conceived and initiated a program to make that college America's "leadership college," his friends and colleagues started a scholarship fund in his honor to support students with great leadership potential. He requested, before his death, that funds be sent to that Scholarship Fund or to support the continued existence and growth of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. In the late 1990s, Peterson served as president of the Center for the Study of the American Presidency in New York. Later, he served as the Scott Professor of Leadership at Rocky Mountain College in Billings and as a Representative in the Montana State Legislature. In 2001 (relocating to Southern California) Peterson was appointed president of the Wathen Academy, an innovative, multi-generational aviation educational program located at historic Flabob Airport in Riverside County, California. This appointment reignited his love for aviation and he was enthralled being around fellow pilots and all the unique aviation history Flabob offered. At this time, Peterson met and married his second wife, Mary Evelyn Kinum. Peterson's role as interim president of the University of the West (a private Buddhist University in Rosemead, California) kept him busy additionally and brought him much satisfaction. His dedication to the political domain never faltered when in 2022, Peterson vied for a seat in Congress for the third time in his career at 95 years young, this time running in the 39th District in Riverside County, California. Peterson has always been an active churchman and church musician throughout his career, serving at one time as a lay minister with the Congregational Church and as a featured soloist in several congregations over the decades. During the past 22 years, Peterson had been a member of several churches, including the Sun City United Church of Christ, the First Congregational Church UCC of Perris, and the Sun City United Methodist Church. Along with his lifelong commitment to the church Freemasonry was an important element in building the foundation that guided his life. A memorial service will be held at Noon, Saturday, April 29 at Flabob Airport in the EAA Chapter One Stits Hanger, Riverside, CA. with a luncheon to follow. He was preceded in death by his parents J. Martin and Hilda; brothers James and Roy; sisters Gertrude, Ruth and Grace; his wife of 50 years, Connie; and his son Jon Martin Peterson II. He will be remembered by his wife, Mary, and her children and family. Also remembering him are his children Rebecca (Dean) McDaniel, Donna Peterson, Connie (Chris) Balow and Ingrid Peterson; daughter-in-law Melissa Peterson and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.