John Malcolm Peterson

A memorial service for John Malcolm Peterson, 88, Cedar Hill, Texas, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lawrence. A light lunch will be served after the service. Burial will be in the Pioneer Cemetery.
Mr. Peterson died Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Cedar Hill.
He was born Aug. 12, 1921, in Hays, the son of Malcolm and Minnie Mischke Peterson. He grew up on a farm near Monument, in Logan County.
He graduated from Page City High School in 1938, and as a Summerfield scholar received a bachelor’s degree in business from Kansas University in 1942.
He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from September 1942 to December 1945 in the United States and North Africa. After discharge from the Army, he returned to KU where he received a master’s in political science in 1947. After one year as an instructor at the University of North Dakota, he entered federal service in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Treasury Department. In 1952 he moved to the U.S. Department of Defense and served there as a budget and program officer until retirement in 1974. After he retired, he moved with his wife to a rural home in Douglas County and in 1992 moved to Lawrence. Two years ago, he moved to Cedar Hill, Texas, to be closer to his wife’s relatives.
At the rural home, Mr. Peterson raised vegetables, cut firewood and kept bees. His volunteer work centered around history and archeology. At the Watkins Community Museum of History, he served as a volunteer archivist/curator from 1976, served on the board of directors for about 10 years, and was on the management committee for about two years. He was a longtime member of the Douglas County and Kansas State Historical Societies and contributed frequently to the Kansas History publication.
He authored the book “John G. Haskell: Pioneer Kansas Architect.” He became a member of the Kansas Anthropological Association in 1975 and participated in many digs and surveys. Other volunteer work was done for the Volunteer Clearinghouse and Trinity Lutheran Church, where he was a member.
He married Frances R. Bailey on May 17, 1952, in Washington, D.C. She survives, of the home.
Other survivors include a sister, Justine Kloepper, Medford, Ore.; and many nieces, nephews and in-laws.
Jaynes Memorial Chapel in Duncanville, Texas, is in charge of arrangements.