Birth date: Apr 11, 1945 Death date: Aug 15, 2021
On Sunday, August 15, 2021, Don Petersen, beloved brother of four surviving siblings, went to heaven at age 76. Don Petersen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 11, 1945. From there, he moved to Holland, Iowa; Platte, South Da Read Obituary
I just learned of Don’s passing. Though I only knew him for a short time while I was in Zuni, I considered myself a friend. We would go for early morning adventures to go bird watching. I recall how much he loved my mother’s pecan pie when she visited. Don had a kind heart and a heart for God. I am thankful for how he touched my life.
When Don was 30-something, he stopped looking through the scope on his rifle and began looking through the lens on his binoculars and later through his camera lens. It was an easy exchange for him, from a conquest of life to a quest for life, and in many ways symbolizes his spiritual journey. Photography was his way of honoring and celebrating the many landscapes of his life. It was an act of love for him.
Don and Dale were childhood playmates of my brothers and I in the 1950's. The attached photo was taken in about 1958 in Platte, SD, in our farm yard. We spent most of our time on those summer days playing baseball, fishing and swimming. There was a spillway at the lake and I remember having the thrill of my young life sliding down the moss covered cement into the lagoon. Don and my brother, Robert, were the same age, and I remembered they "volunteered" our family dogs to go first. As I recall, Boots and Inky were none too pleased. Dale was a year younger that my brother, Dennis, and a year or so older than me. There are many stories, too numerous to mention here, but I remember Don as being a good brother to Dale and a good friend to my brothers and myself, even though I was so young it was hard to keep up.
Chuck
It is such a privilege to be included in your family's thoughts and prayers regarding Don's life. He was like a brother to both Bob and I. Bob and Don would hit golfballs in our pasture and laugh, talk and Don even sang a bit I heard!! He wanted to help us so came to do chores like raking leaves. Sometimes bringing Shirley but many times driving out to listen to the birds sing when Shirley was elsewhere, like school or camp. We loved them both and included them in family get-togethers whenever possible. My children and grandchildren will miss them both as we will! I met Don at church and The Lord just brought us together on many occasions. He witnessed to Bob in such profound ways and was so very kind. I was leader of a small group and asked him if he would like to be part of the group and he seemed delighted. The entire group adopted both Don and Shirley and were part of the family that God put together for many years!! We were all blessed by Don!!!!
There are so many things I could write here about Don. Yolande (my wife) has called him a "spiritual giant," so I'll share a vignette that illustrates this. In my young adulthood, when I was a young believer, Don told me about a time he had been accepted into a Ph.D. program in ornithology, but that he had decided not to start the program after all. When I asked him why, he said, "Just because there's an open door, it doesn't mean that the Lord wants you to walk through it." At the time he had applied for the Ph.D. program, he had thought that was what he was supposed to do, but in the meantime, the Lord had convinced him that was not the path he should follow after all.
Several years later, Yolande and I were part of a small church where a man had received a job offer that he wanted to take but that would require him to quit his then-current job, uproot his young family, and move to a place several hundred miles away, where they knew no one. Neither his wife nor his kids wanted to move, and it became apparent that the reason he wanted to move was because of a higher salary. He accepted the job and spent several weeks away from his family, coming back to visit on some weekends. Eventually, the family moved. We don't know what happened next, but I remembered what Don had said several years before, and I wondered if the man should have walked himself (and his family) through that open door. I determined that I would not make such an important life-changing decision unless I was confident that Yolande and I were in agreement about it.
One weekend we planned a nature hike with Cousin Don at a park east of Grand Haven. Don and his sister Shirley met us in the parking lot and we hiked together on trails in the park for a couple of hours, taking special note of birds (with Don's help), identifying them, and listening to their songs.
Donna (Petersen) DeWeerd
Our extended family was camping together at Hoffmaster State Park when Don was working there as a naturalist. One day we biked to the Nature Center where Don was teaching a session on "pellets" excreted by owls in the park. He explained how the nature of these pellets could help us understand better the diets and habits of God's creatures. Our grandchildren each had their own "lab station" with a pellet (or two) to dissect under Don's watchful, interpretive eye.
Donna (Petersen) DeWeerd
I always remember the first time I met Don at his home, almost 25 years ago, as a newcomer to the US. My friends Bill and Ena Van Dam brought me to visit him. The warm smile on his face immediately made me feel welcome. Don’s hospitality and his genuine love for strangers made me so comfortable that I not only visited him regularly during my study in Grand Rapids, I even brought my friends and my family from China to his house. He had the ability to make everyone feel at home in just a few minutes. Don’s love for nature was contagious. Whenever I visited him, if possible, he took me to hike in the woods and sand dunes, teaching me about birds and plants. He helped foster a lifelong love for hiking and for nature in me, who grew up in jungles of concrete. As my big brother, Don walked me down the aisle at my wedding, since my parents in China and my spiritual parents, the Van Dams, couldn’t make it. I remember how nervous he was, but he did a great job! Don always encouraged me with Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”. Don practiced this verse in his life and he always had been my role model. I rejoice in the fact that I will see him someday and know that the smile on his face will once again, make me feel welcome immediately, this time in eternal glory.
