Elizabeth Jane Farber Peterson

Betty Farber Peterson, age 100, died peacefully on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at Northwood Terrace in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was born in Reading, PA on November 27, 1917, daughter of Verna [Phillips] Farber and William James Farber. She was brought up in the aftermath of WW I in Syracuse, NY during the rigors of the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression. Having always loved music, she performed widely in high school and university groups on radio and stage. She graduated in 1939 from the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University, and taught music, classical and folk, both in and out of the classroom, kindergarten through high school and won honors conducting many school, college and church choirs. She often stated that the formative strands of her life were clearly marked: her work for social justice was influenced by experiences during the Great Depression; and her interest in the environment and the natural world were nurtured through nature study in Girl Scouting and Albert Schweitzer’s “Reverence for Life”.

While at Syracuse University she met Gunnar Arthur Peterson of Pittsfield, MA. Her love of the outdoors was augmented by Gunnar’s interest in skiing, climbing and canoeing. In 1939 they were married but during World War II she and her husband were separated for periods when he served in different locations as a Conscientious Objector.

During Gunnar’s service, Betty gave birth to their first child, Larry Lars, while living at her mother’s house in Syracuse. Betty and Larry joined Gunnar for the last part of his service at The State School for the Developmentally Disabled in Pownal, ME where they lived in a small cabin. A major life change occurred with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at war’s end and the full disclosure of the death camps in Europe. They both determined to devote their lives to peace and social justice. In 1946, their daughter, Lisl Ann, was born. For several years they lived in CT and NY state, becoming Quakers in 1949 and working for the American Friends Service Committee periodically. Unfortunately, also in 1949, their son, Larry, died of complications due to measles and they threw themselves all the more into peace and social activism. Betty participated in early sit ins and civil rights protests with Bayard Rustin, Jim Farmer and other well known leaders of that era.

In 1950 the family moved to a suburb of Chicago, IL, where, in 1952, Eric Knute was born. In the 50s and 60s, while raising a family, she served as a trainer and camp director in professional Girl Scouting, participated in sit-ins and civil disobedience, and was a founder of the South Suburban Human Rights Organization. For many years she was a community educator and organizer for voting equality with the League of Women Voters, and for open housing for all. Under the War on Poverty she taught English as a Second Language at Thornton Community College, Harvey, IL, and later became director of learning centers in several Chicago south suburbs for Spanish-speaking migrants, Vietnam war brides and African Americans moving up from the South during the 60s. Betty was also active in protesting the Vietnam War.

In 1969 the Petersons acquired a summer home/farm in Janvrins Harbour, Cape Breton. In 1975 after the fallout from the Vietnam War and Watergate, disillusioned with American politics, they moved, partly in political protest, to Canada, and to their farm in “Small is Beautiful” Nova Scotia. Gunnar died suddenly in 1976 and Betty, at loose ends, decided to stay in Canada and spent a few years traveling and continuing her work from Cape Breton. Doors then opened in 1980 when she moved to Halifax during the winter months and became active in the women’s movement and an organizer of many peace activities with the Voice of Women.

Through her years with the Canadian Friends Service Committee she became very involved with Native peoples in Canada, particularly the Innu of Labrador, with whom she camped many times in protest of the NATO low-flying training flights and on whose behalf she spoke at public gatherings throughout the Maritimes. She also camped and protested with the Lubicon in Alberta in their struggle against the oil drilling on their land, and continued to rally support for them. She was named Grandmother of the Lubicon and was affectionately referred to as “Rambo Granny”, and the Innu called her Kukuminash (Old Lady with a Hug), both names she considered an honor. Betty was increasingly appreciative of Native spirituality, particularly in her work with the Native Brotherhood in Prisons.

She became a familiar figure in Halifax and Nova Scotia for the next 35 years, emphasizing non-violent protest in a time of wide-spread wars and revolution. She was involved in organizing rallies, vigils, marches and educational programs to further peace and social justice concerns. She valued highly the community of activists with whom she worked, and was a member of Halifax Friends Meeting; Voice of Women; Aboriginal Rights Coalition; Project Ploughshares; Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace; Fellowship of Reconciliation; War Resisters' League; the Raging Grannies, Kairos, and many justice and inter-faith organizations. Betty’s experience of collecting names for the Women’s International Peace Petition and taking them to the United Nations Second Session on Disarmament in New York City in 1982 on the March of a Million International Peace Activists, was a life-changer. As a Quaker she served more widely for many years on the Canadian Friends Service Committee working for social justice and human rights in Canada as well as internationally. She joined Witness for Peace in Central America and travelled on several educational trips to China, Japan and Russia during the Cold War promoting peace and understanding. She continued her life-long advocacy for environmental protection and the conservation of land and animals. She was devoted to her Cape Breton farm and to her neighbors there.

In her eighties and nineties Betty spent major time doing archival work for various groups as well as for herself. Her personal papers and organizational records have gone to the Nova Scotia Archives.

Betty is survived by her daughter, Lisl Peterson Fuson of Farmington, ME; son, Eric Knute Peterson of Ozark, MO; grandsons Joshua Peter Jacob Fuson [Sarah Tyson]of Denver, CO, and Gabriel Chester Fuson of San Francisco, CA; and great granddaughter, Iris Phoebe Tyson. She was predeceased by a son, Larry Lars Peterson in Cato, NY in 1949, and by her husband, Gunnar Arthur Peterson in Antigonish, NS in 1976, and brother William Farber in Woodstock, CT in 1995.

Betty’s ashes will be scattered over her beloved “Seafarm” in Cape Breton. In the spring there will be a celebration of Betty’s life to which all are invited; place and time to be determined. In lieu of flowers, Betty asked that contributions be made to one’s favorite charity.

Betty tried to follow the leadings of the Spirit and to move through life as a Friend. She sometimes referred to her great grandmother’s epitaph in a quiet Pennsylvania graveyard: “She believed in God and did what she could”.