Obit: Peterson, John (1899 – 1964)

Contact: Linda O'Donnell
Email: lindao@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Peterson, Liepert, Harder, Coyier

----Source: Thorpe Courier (Thorp, Clark Co., Wis.) 8 OCT 1964

Peterson, John (2 NOV 1899 - 3 OCT 1964)

John M. Peterson, 65, long time Neillsville lawyer and former Clark County district attorney, died Saturday following a lingering illness.

Funeral services were held Wednesday at the Neillsville Masonic Temple and burial was in Memorial Cemetery at Colby. The Rev. R.S. Hoagland of the First Unitarian church at Madison officiated and members of the Neillsville Legion Post conducted military rites at the grave.

Mr. Peterson practiced law at Neillsville since 1935 and was elected to two terms as the county district attorney. He served as the first veteran's service officer in Clark and was a director and secretary of the Neillsville Memorial Hospital.

He also served as home service chairman of the Red Cross in the county for 20 years and was a trustee of the Clark County Hospital.

Born November 2, 1899 at Colby, he served in World War I and attended Lawrence College in Appleton.

For seven years he served as a rural mail carrier from the Colby post office, studying nights on an extension course for students of law. He was graduated from the University of Wisconsin law school in 1930 and practiced at Owen four years before he was named regional claim examiner at Wisconsin Rapids. He served on the Wood County board of supervisors when he lived there and also became the first chairman of a mediation board during the depression years.

Mr. Peterson is survived by his wife, the former Harriet Liepert of Unity, whom he married in 1919; two daughters: Mrs. Hans Harder, Neillsville, and Mrs. Duane Coyier, Hood River, Oregon; and eight grandchildren.

He was a member of the Neillsville Masonic Lodge, Legion Post, Eau Claire consistory, Danish brotherhood of Withee, and state and local bar associations.