Obituary of Christian Paul Peterson

Christian Paul Peterson, 86, died Friday, April 29, at Iowa City Rehabilitation and Health Care Center of complications following a stroke. There will be no memorial service, at his request. The family is being assisted in making arrangements by Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service. Memorial contributions may be made to the Christian P. Peterson Prize in Jazz Studies at the University of Iowa Foundation, PO Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244. Chris Peterson was born on January 18, 1919 in Waukon, Iowa to Carl M. Peterson and Emma Rumph Peterson. After attending Waukon Community College, he graduated from the University of Iowa in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce. On January 25, 1940 he married Beatrice Irene Rosheim in Roland, Iowa, and they settled permanently in Iowa City. From the 1940's to the 1960's, Chris Peterson was a dance band leader and musician in the Iowa City area and the midwest. He was a lifetime member of local 450 of the American Federation of Musicians, having served as its president. He also served as secretary of the Iowa City branch of the American Federation of Labor. A self-employed businessman, he was a member of the Iowa Nurseryman's Association and retired from work as a landscape nurseryman in 1981. Iowa City is graced by many of the trees and shrubs that he planted. He was an avid fisherman and golfer, and was a member since 1945 of the Elks Country Club. For nearly twenty years, he and his wife spent their winters in Diamondhead, Mississippi. Chris Peterson is survived by his wife, Beatrice; two daughters, Patricia and her husband Laird Addis of Iowa City, and Sue and her husband Tom Riedel of Laramie, Wyoming; three granddaughters, Kristin Addis of Iowa City, Karin Addis of Valdosta, Georgia, and Susan Udell of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and two great-grandchildren, Noel and Kayne Udell of Cheyenne, Wyoming; and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ed Rosheim and his wife Bette of Tama, Iowa.