Donald J. Peterson
1936 – March 31, 2022
Donald J. Peterson was born in 1936 on the family farm to Clarence and Ruth (Blehovde) Peterson.
He graduated from Peterson Mill School, a one-room schoolhouse just across Peterson Creek from the farm, in 1949 and from Scandinavia High School in 1953. After his graduation, he attended the UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course and graduated in 1955.
Don was a charter member of Peterson Mill 4-H Club, where he took great joy in showing his heifers and cows at Waupaca County and Wisconsin State Fairs. One of his greatest accomplishments was being selected for the National 4-H Club Congress in 1953.
Don met his wife, Judy (Stueck) Peterson, at the Caroline Ballroom in Caroline, Wisconsin, in 1959. They frequented the ballroom and met because of their love of dancing. On Dec. 3, 1960, they were married at Scandinavia Lutheran Church.
Don took over his family farm at 19. He was a farmer his whole life with his brother Bill, milking Registered Holsteins at Mill Stream Dairy Farm. He loved to work in the fields and the barn, continuing to help on the farm after his retirement. He cherished farm work, driving tractors and combines in the fields every planting and harvesting season up until his death.
He had a passion for community service, serving on the Farm Service Agency, Scandinavia Town Board, and the Waupaca County Board for 16 years.
After Don retired from farming, he and Judy took multiple trips around the country and world. Don and Judy went to the Bahamas with friends and family annually for 15 years. They also traveled to Europe and the Panama Canal. Don loved driving, and they took multiple road trips to Florida, Texas, and California throughout retirement.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Ruth Peterson; siblings Cynthia Long and Curtis Peterson; and his sister-in law Donna Peterson.
He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years Judy Peterson; children DeAnn Firnbach and Darren (Shelly) Peterson; grandchildren Kelly and Kasey Firnbach and Emily, Ben, and Chloe Peterson; siblings Phyllis (Leo) McSherry and Bill (Mary) Peterson; brother-in-law Don Long; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family will hold visitation at Voie Funeral Home in Iola, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, April 5, from 4-8 p.m. There will also be a visitation on Wednesday from 9:30-10:45 a.m. at Scandinavia Lutheran Church preceding the funeral service.
Don’s funeral will be on Wednesday, April 6, at 11 a.m. at the Scandinavia Lutheran Church, where he was also baptized, confirmed, and married. Burial will be at the Scandinavia Lutheran Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please donate blood or platelets at a donation center convenient to you.