John R. Peterson

John R. Peterson, 85, of Ogden, Iowa, died Friday, November 16, 2012, surrounded by his family.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2012, at Bethel Church, rural Boone. Pastor Jeff Thrane will officiate. Burial will be in Pleasant Hill Cemetery at Bethel Church. Visitation will be Tuesday, from 10:30 a.m., until the time of services at the Church. Carson - Stapp Funeral Home of Ogden is in charge of arrangements.

John Raymond Peterson was born on September 16, 1927, on the family farm southeast of Ogden, Iowa, the son of Andrew and Mary (Blaskey) Peterson. At the age of 11, following his father's death, JohnR took over the family farming operation. In addition to running the farm, John was still able to attend school and graduated from Ogden High School in 1946.

On October 12, 1946, John was united in marriage to Leora Mae Eytcheson in Boone. To this union two daughters were born: Donna and Gloria.

John lovingly worked his land southeast of Ogden and ran a custom mechanic business where everyone knew if it was broken, he could fix it, if it didn't exist, he could create it. In earlier years John completely rebuilt and restored a 1915 International Truck, which was later shown at numerous Iowa Celebrations. Additionally, he ran a custom corn shelling operation and applied liquid fertilizer for local farmers. Later he worked as a mechanic at DeWitt Implement. He was a proud steward of the land on the Peterson Century (plus) farm where he raised livestock, meticulously groomed his fields and boasted he "knew every inch of his ground".

He was known statewide for his corn cooker. Through trial and error he developed a super-cooker with attached kettle that would prepare one hundred ears of sweet corn at one time. He and his wife, Leora, took pride in growing and preparing all of the ears of sweet corn that they served free to everyone at the state fair and other Iowa events. Fifty-seven thousand ears were cooked one year!

John was a faithful member of Bethel Church. He also served on the Boone County Board of Health. His many hobbies included creating metal ornamental yard structures, gardening and bird watching. He loved all of his dogs and cats over the years. He enjoyed restoring and driving classic cars. He belonged to the Iowa Tall Corn Car Club.

Survivors include his devoted sister, Dorothy (Peterson) Lindmark of Dalhart, Texas; two daughters, Donna (Steve) Muench of Rosemount, Minnesota, and Gloria (John) Vlatkovich of Minneapolis, Minnesota; five grandchildren, Christopher (Rebecca) Muench, Tracey Muench, Keri (Erik) Muench Stenemann, Luke Vlatkovich, and Annie Vlatkovich; two great grandchildren, Steven Stenemann and Chloe Muench; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and close friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and Leora, his wife of 62 years. For the past four years he has ached for their reunion and now they are together at last and forever.