Gerald "Jerry" W. Peterson

Born on January 4, 1939, Gerald “Jerry” Wayne Peterson in Eau Claire’s Luther Hospital, to Mary Jane and Harold. He was the second of 5 children, (Ann, John, Tom, and Sue). He attended Eau Claire Public Schools and regularly played with his friends and brothers and sisters at Carson Park, and fished and swam on Half Moon Lake. After the family moved to Fargo, ND, he attended Agassiz Junior High School and Fargo Central High School, enlisting in the Air Force Reserves and then in the Navy during his senior year. An early interest in electronics influenced his training and specialty in the Service (where he manned a radio shack on a destroyer), and ultimately his career as a technical writer to several military contractors.

Stationed on the West Coast, he met and later married Margaret and raised their daughters Marie and Deborah and their son Paul. In Milwaukee, Jerry worked at Allis Chalmers while attending Marquette University. Always an avid reader, he instilled the love of reading in his children, who remember him bringing home new books every Friday, that he would read to them and make up stories at bedtime.

A job offer at 3M led the family to Stillwater, MN, where he appreciated its scenic surroundings, library, and clear lakes where he taught his kids to fish and shared his knowledge of the stars. Never one to follow the crowd or embrace conventional thinking (another trait he passed onto his children), he and the family took advantage of an opportunity to move to Germany, but their stay was brief. After divorce, Jerry moved to Arizona and distinguished himself as an excellent club tennis player at Red Mountain Ranch. Under clear Arizona skies, he was involved with the amateur astronomy community, visiting observatories and gazing through his own backyard telescope.

After retirement, Jerry returned to Eau Claire and the landscapes of his youth. A familiar face at the library, local bookstores, and readings, he continued to add to his ever-expanding library, which reflected his wide-ranging interests: art, astronomy, poetry, essays, fiction, and philosophy. In his later years, lived a quiet, content life among his oil paintings, books, and neighbors, until he passed away at Mayo Health Services on March 27, 2025 of complications due to stroke and pneumonia. Preceded in death by his parents, Mary Jane and Harold, and his brothers, John and Thomas. He is survived by his children, Marie, Deborah and Paul, and his sisters, Ann and Sue.

Friends and family may offer condolences online at www.hulkefamilyfh.com.

Hulke Family Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 3209 Rudolph Road, Eau Claire, WI 54701 is assisting the family with the arrangements.

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