Obituaries, Sussex and Lisbon (not buried in area)
Former Sussex fire chief, war veteran dies; Arne Peterson was 82
Arne R. “Pete” Peterson claimed Sussex as his hometown for 65 of his 82 years. He died Tuesday, March 4.
Posted: March 12, 2008
Arne R. “Pete” Peterson claimed Sussex as his hometown for 65 of his 82 years. He died Tuesday, March 4.
Son of Gus and Anna Peterson, he was born in the Redgranite area May 15, 1925. The family moved to Sussex in 1937 when Gus started work as a stonecutter at the Halquist Stone Co. quarry.
Arne Peterson was a star athlete at Sussex High School, a World War II Pacific veteran, a master stonecutter, electrician, a member of the Sussex VFW and a 34-year member of the Sussex Fire Department, serving as chief from 1975 to 1984.
Current Sussex Fire Chief Colin “Corky” Curtis, who joined the department in 1975 just as Peterson was starting his rookie year as chief, said Peterson “was a firm leader who was always neat and organized and wanted the department to function in the same way.
“He encouraged education and wanted the young new firefighters to get as much training as possible. When Arne was teaching a training session, the outlines were printed by hand and were very methodical.
“On the emergency scene, he was a true leader that orchestrated the crews for the most efficient function.”
Peterson graduated from the two-year Sussex High School in 1940. He was a basketball star both years there, helping take the school to the Tri-County Championship Tournament.
The semifinal game against Grafton played at the new Sussex Community Hall gym ended in a tie after the one overtime period allowed, requiring a free-throw shootout to settle the score. After Grafton missed, Arne stepped up to the line and made the winning free throw for a 16-15 victory.
In the following championship game, Sussex cruised to a 36-17 win over North Lake, and Peterson was named all-tournament.
In his sophomore year, he was team captain and his team again won the season-ending county tournament, that time defeating Okauchee, 16-13.
Peterson played right field on the school baseball team and later on the league-leading Land O’ Rivers team.
Peterson went on to graduate from Waukesha High School in 1942 just in time to join the U.S. Navy. He became an electrician on the USS Dickens, a Kaiser Industries specialty boat that could carry 26 invasion assault boats. The ship’s complement was 300 to 400 sailors, and it could carry up to 900 troops.
It engaged in its first invasion Feb. 19, 1945, at Iwo Jima. Peterson later participated in the invasion of Okinawa. When U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, he was stationed in the Philippines, getting ready for the invasion of Japan.
Instead, his ship was part of the convoy that steamed into Tokyo Bay to accept the empire’s surrender, carrying the U.S. 2nd Cavalry occupation troops.
Peterson was discharged in May 1946. He returned to Sussex and met an old schoolmate, Betty Jane Schlei. They married in January 1949.
He could not get into the electrician career he wanted at first, so he put in nine years at the Halquist quarry as a master stonecutter. He eventually made it into his preferred trade until he retired in 1988.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Betty Jane; sister-in-law Shirley (Charles) Zimmermann and brother-in-law Robert (Adena) Schlei. Also surviving are four nieces and a nephew, nine great-nephews and -nieces, and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services were handled by Schmidt & Bartelt A.A. Schmidt & Sons Funeral Home, Sussex, with viewing and a service Friday at Redeemer United Church of Christ, Sussex. He was entombed in Wisconsin Memorial Park.
Memorials can be made to the Sussex Fire Department, Smoke Eaters or Redeemer United Church of Christ.