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Larry "Pete" Peterson

June 11, 1941 - April 10, 2018

Larry “Pete” Peterson passed away April 10, 2018 at the Taylor House with his wife and family surrounding him.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 on Monday, April 16, 2018 at the First Presbyterian Church in Grimes, IA (410 S.E. 3rd St.). A visitation will be held 3:00 to 5:00p.m., Sunday, April 15th at Memorial Services of Iowa Funeral Home (4208 N Ankeny Blvd).
Pete was born to Ida (Timson) and Carl Peterson of Rowley, Iowa July 11, 1941. He was born and raised on a farm outside of Rowley with his brothers Fred and Don, and sister, Bonnie.
He graduated from Rowley High School in 1959 and worked at a local meat locker. In December 1963, he married Brenda Brown in Jesup, Iowa and joined the US Army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Their daughter, Deborah was born on the base in 1965. This same year, Pete completed his service, just prior to the Vietnam War and returned to live in Ames, Iowa. He continued to serve in the Army Reserves for a total of 4 years. While in Ames, he worked for Fareway Stores as a meat cutter. Their daughter, Natalie, was born in 1968 while living in Ames.
They moved to Roland where the two opened their own grocery store. It was a small mom and pop store where dad cut all of the meat for customers and delivered groceries in his 1962 Chevy Impala Sport to people who were shut in. He was ahead of his time! He was a dedicated member of Bergen Lutheran Church. Pete later went to work at the Roland Farmers’ Cooperative selling feed to farmers. Pete and Brenda had two sons, Christian in 1970 and Aaron in 1973.
In 1979, they moved the family to Manson and Pete worked at the Manson Farmers’ Cooperative. Six months later, their home was destroyed by the 1979 tornado. They rebuilt and graduated all 4 children from Manson High School. The family were members of the First Methodist Church.
In 1991, Pete and Brenda moved to Webster City and took a job with New Cooperative in Vincent. He retired from New Cooperative and was then associated with Peterson Transportation Inc. in Manson. They moved to Fort Dodge for a short while before moving to Polk City in 2012 and still reside there. He was a member of Kiwanis, helped construct and run the Bill Riley Stage for the Four Seasons Festival yearly, and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Grimes.
Pete loved to talk to people and make new friends! He would always ask, “What’s your name and where are you from?” and inevitably he was able to connect them to someone he knew and he never forgot their name! He was always a farm boy at heart. He loved to grow pumpkins, corn, and gourds to peddle to people. He was also guilty of giving away more than he sold! He was great at training dogs and may have missed his calling! He loved playing Santa Clause for our family and close friends. He was proud of his 12 grandchildren and enjoyed watching them in all of their activities. He was a great story teller and kept everyone’s attention with his tales of his childhood and early adulthood (he was just a little ornery!). We will remember him for his sense of humor right to the end of his time. He was dedicated to his family and will be missed dearly by them.
Pete is survived by his wife Brenda: his children, Deb (Doug) Markert, Natalie (Tim) Rolow, Chris (Dana) Peterson, and Aaron (Julie Samuelson) Peterson; and grandchildren Reghan, Sydney and Cameron Markert, Georgia and Elliot Rolow, Carlee, Cade and Kenzie Peterson, and Tanner, Madelyn, Carson, and Chloe Peterson; a nephew Tony (Cynthia) Peterson, and extended family and many friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Taylor House (Hospice) on line at https://www.unitypoint.org/desmoines/online-donation.aspx or mailed to Taylor House 3401 East Douglas Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50317 with Taylor House in memory of Larry “Pete” Peterson written in the memo.