John Fox Peterson

John went to be with the Lord Jesus the morning of Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in his home, surrounded by his loving family singing songs of praise, reading scripture and praying as he entered his eternal home. John was born June 23, 1938, in Wenachee Washington, to John H. and Pauline Fox Peterson. He moved with his family many times in his youth and eventually ended up in Missoula when he was 15 years old. It was at Missoula County High School while he worked at Safeway as a box boy, and cleaned Eddy's bakery that he met the love of his life, Margaret (Peaches) Newton. Never one to waste time, John persuaded Peaches to marry him April 16, 1955, when he was only 16. John called himself a peddler and always said that convincing Peaches to marry him was the best sales job he ever did. The world was his oyster, and Peaches was his pearl. They lived in Helena where John worked for Eddy's Bread in the bakery and as a route salesman at 17 even though he was not officially old enough to drive a commercial truck. Their son, Scott, was born there in Helena, then the family moved to Walla Walla, Washington, where John worked for Sears. During that time, their daughter, Bettina was born. The young couple lived in Kennewick, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon, where John sold life insurance before they moved back to Missoula in 1964. John worked as a route salesman for Wonder Bread then expanded to owning his own truck and included Clover Club Potato Chips to his sales route. This daily route took him west almost to the Idaho state line and back across the newly constructed St. Regis cutoff to Thompson Falls before returning home to the house he built in the Ninemile area west of Missoula.

John was a true entrepreneur, in spite of never having the chance to go beyond a high school education. He tried many businesses, always naming and printing business card for each of them. In fact, throughout his life he made a total of 20 different business cards! These many businesses included a roof tile company, a used car repair and sales lot, Peterson Metal (a metal building construction company), Peterson Brown Fireworks, Bonnie Faye Foods, H&H Meats and Beehive Fireworks. Some worked out and some did not. But resilient and optimistic, like the song he would, "pick himself up, dust himself off and start all over again."

As John became an employer himself, he took a personal interest in making his employees lives better. Not only that, but he made an intentional decision to hire people who couldn't get hired elsewhere. John was all about second chances. He had a gift of seeing value and potential in people and businesses.

During his and Peaches travels to Canada, U.K., Ireland, Hawaii, Mexico, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, China, Germany and visiting their daughter and her family when they lived in Zaire and Thailand, he would see potential in the different businesses he encountered and wish he had the time and capitol to develop them. John had an innate ability to discover what people were good at and what their dreams were, and then would encourage and support them in it.

Even though he didn't get the chance himself, he strongly encouraged and supported higher education, though he believed that life and work experience were just as valuable. In fact, his family contends that if degrees were awarded for experience, he would have a Ph.D. in business. John loved mentoring young men, encouraging, supporting, challenging, employing them to the point where Peaches felt like she was running a boys home.

John could strike up a conversation with anyone, he loved to talk, loved to share stories and loved to learn more about the world through others eyes. Caring enough to know practically everyone in town, he worked hard to maintain relationships. He was a very trusting person and invested in building trust with others. He was devotedly faithful and fiercely loyal. John was a very generous man. No one could leave his house without some jerky, a roll of salami or a box of fireworks and he was just as generous with his hard earned money.

He supported his children and grandchildren in their education, funded missionaries, charities and his selected political candidates. A true-blooded American, a capitalist and an active Republican, he loved his country and treasured its freedoms.

In 1995, John and Peaches moved into their dream house they built on the outskirts of Missoula on 67 acres of land. Over time, John kept llamas, horses, cats, bunnies, a poodle and one very old donkey on his land. He truly loved his animals and would spoil them to the point that the cats were so fat they could barely walk, and the donkey, Mr. Peabody, was eating candy canes. He also loved the chickadees and sparrows that flitted about his property and would feed them continually, much to his wife's chagrin. John also collected cars including his favorite, the Golden Hawk Studebaker that nearly broke his heart to sell. He was a strong believer in diesel, eventually driving a little blue bug that growled like a truck (among the other diesel vehicles he owned).

John was a strong Christian man, actively involved in Frenchtown Community Church as elder and treasurer. John was no mediocre, run of the mill Christian. His relationship with his Lord was tangible, revealing itself in his every day life. Every night he would talk to God with his wife, Peaches, conversing with the Lord in an intimate, down-to-earth style, praying powerfully for others. At the end of his life, John continually expressed his eagerness to meet the Lord, and would pray aloud with his family every night. He had a deep love for God's Word. He was involved with the Gideons and helped to distribute Bibles all over the world, knowing that the Bible was the foundation to faith in God and salvation. He trusted in God's promise from Isaiah 55:11 that God's Word would not return to Him void. John also bought cases of One Year Bibles and gave them away to anyone, believing that daily reading of the Word was vital to a strong relationship with God.

John was preceded in death by both his parents, John H. and Pauline Peterson and his sister Judy Peterson. He is survived by Peaches, his loving wife of 61 years; his two children, Scott Peterson and Bettina Schubert; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and his dearest friend and right-hand-man, Brad May. His family is thankful for the hope and confidence that they will see him again when they join him in heaven. They are also thankful for the promise of the resurrection, that John's body will one day be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

His funeral will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 1 p.m. at Frenchtown Community Church. Please call the church at (406) 626-578 for more information. The family requests that any donations be made in John's memory to Gideons International, gideons.org/sendtheword/default.aspx.


Read John Peterson's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.