Thor Peterson

Thor Peterson, 94 of Devils Lake formerly of St. Michael and Warwick, ND died on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at Heartland Care Center, Devils Lake. Funeral Services for Thor will be held on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. at Warwick Lutheran Church, Warwick, ND. Rev. David Nichols will officiate and burial will be in the Warwick Cemetery. Visitation will be at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake on Friday from 1:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a Prayer Service and time of sharing memories at 7:00 p.m. Visitation on Saturday will be at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. Serving as Casket Bearers for Thor will be his grandsons, Jerry Estenson, Loren Rader, Jeremy Rader, Christopher Rader, James Wallace, Jesse Wallace and Matthew Wallace. Honorary Bearers will be Bob Weed, Gene Wooley, Keith Leben, Arvid Anderson, Ken Throlson, Terry Peterson, Gary Peterson and Gordon Burdick and Thor’s Park Place Friends, the Heartland Care Center Staff and Dr. Greves. Music at the Prayer Service will be provided by Loretta Stensland. Funeral Service music will be provided by Jeff and Karol Kapelle, vocalists and Roger Forde, organist. Thor Peterson was born in Lillehammer, Norway on September 2, 1913, the youngest of eleven children born to Peter and Marie (Johansen) Peterson. At the age of three he came with his family to the United States. They established their home in the Warwick area and this is the place where Thor would live, work and raise his family and spend most of his life. Thor attended country schools in the area where he soon learned to speak English. Thor was united in marriage to Evelyn Jackson on March 20, 1947 in Tacoma, Washington. They established their home in the Warwick area, close to his brother, Ingemund. Here they would farm and ranch for many years. Thor’s love and dedication to family and the land he loved began here and was a love that would never leave him. He sold the farm in 1978, but retired would never be a word that could be used to describe Thor. He was always “tinkering” or working on some project of his making or of one of his daughters. He would tackle any project, large or small. He was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and mowing lawns and he had a rather unusual hobby of collecting all kinds of unique animals, such as miniature ponies, donkeys, pot bellied pigs to name a few and then giving them to his daughter. Card parties with neighbors and friends were treasured times to the family. A Sunday never went by that an extra plate or two or three wasn’t set at the table for guests at the Peterson household for Evelyn’s famous fried chicken. There was always a cup of hot coffee and good conversation for anyone who stopped by for a visit. After Thor sold the farm they lived for a short time in Devils Lake then moved to a farm at St. Michael. For the past few years, Thor again made his home in Devils Lake. Evelyn passed away on February 3, 1988. Thor was a member of the Warwick Lutheran Church and former member of the Sons of Norway. Thor leaves a legacy of love of land and nature, love of family and friends and love of his heritage of hard work and a spirit of kindness to all and thankfulness for God’s gifts. Those legacies shall live forever in the hearts and minds of all who knew and loved Thor. Thor is survived by his children: Mary Rohde and her husband, Joe of St. Michael Edith Wallace and her husband, Russell of Warwick Pauline Rader and her husband, Larry of Pekin, ND Joan Estenson and her husband, Cal of Warwick Fourteen Grandchildren and Four Step Grandchildren Thirty-Six Great Grandchildren Nine Great Great Grandchildren Several nieces and nephews and their families also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Evelyn; son, Jerry in 1972; great grandson, Tyler Anderson and siblings, Evin Peterson, Ingemund Peterson, Anna Anderson, Ottena Amundson, Paul Peterson, Tobias “Tom” Peterson, Pauline Peterson, Martin Peter Peterson, Peter Martin Peterson and Karsten Peterson.