Marion Gertrude Peterson

Marion Gleason Peterson, 98 years old, passed on peacefully Thursday, May 10, 2018, at the Silverado Memory Care Community in Scottsdale, where she had been receiving much appreciated care for the past two and a half years. Born July 26, 1919, in Somerville, a suburb of Boston, MA, to Ruby Benge Gleason and Arthur Louis Gleason, she joined her brother Arthur to complete the family. When the depression hit and her father lost his automobile business, the family had to move to Ossippee, NH, where her dad paid only the property taxes on an old farm house while he renovated it, adding indoor plumbing and replacing wallpaper from the prior century. Marion finished her eighth

grade in a one-room school house. The high school for the local kids of Ossippee was actually a private college prep school, the prestigious Brewster Academy in Wolfboro, still thriving and in the same location to this day. Although she had been awarded a full scholarship to nursing school after graduating high school with honors in 1937, because she was a lifelong Christian Scientist she did not think it would be a profession she would want to pursue, so she went to work for the local Carol County Courthouse

instead and attended business school to learn accounting and office skills. A few years later she moved back to the Boston area to work for the Christian Science Mother Church and the Christian Science Monitor. Each day her bus drove past a large military recruitment billboard. On a spur-ofthe-

moment decision she got off the nearest bus stop and walked to the recruitment office, decided the Marine uniform looked the sharpest, and they signed her up then and there. While stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, NC, as a Corporal, Marion met a handsome Marine Corsair pilot, Bernard Peterson, in May 1944, and after a whirlwind courtship which left them each convinced they had met the perfect match, married him 28 days later. After WWII ended Marion and Spud (her husband’s nickname) moved to his home state of California, where they had two sons, Eric and Randall. In 1955 they moved to Arizona and were blessed with two daughters, Elaine and Beverly. After enduring the absence of her husband through two wars, when he was asked to move to Europe for a period of time for his company Marion said, “Not without us.” So they put their house up for rent, flew with all four kids (ages 6 months to 13 years) to Switzerland. While Spud conducted his business, Marion homeschooled the boys and cared for the two young girls while living in a hotel in Geneva. On weekends the family enjoyed touring many countries. Before leaving Switzerland, she bonded with the young concierge, Alida (Mueller) Wine, whom Marion and Spud sponsored to come to the United States, where Alida met her husband Dennis Wine and remained a lifelong member of the family. The four of them enjoyed many travel adventures throughout the years, including a hot air balloon ride in Alice Springs, Australia, and attending the dedication of the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA. Marion and Bernard enjoyed investing in real estate around the Phoenix metropolitan area as well near the Mogollon Rim. She researched property acquisitions and handled all the accounting of their real estate development business, while raising four children. Near Spud’s retirement from Garret-AiResearch, where he worked as a gas turbine engineer for more than three decades, he began composing his memoirs into book form. Between Spud’s organizational and story-telling skills, Marion’s keen editing skills, and referencing his flight logs, diaries and letters from him to Marion while he was away at two wars, they completed two books. Briny to the Blue, Memoirs of WWII by a Sailor/ Marine Fighter Pilot by Captain Bernard W. Peterson, USMCR, Retired, was published in 1992, with a second updated and revised printing in 2000. Short Straw, Memoirs of Korea by a Fighter Pilot/Forward Air Controller, by Captain Bernard W. Peterson, USMCR, Retired, was published in 1996. Marion enjoyed stateside and worldwide travel with her husband, as well as attending many reunions for the multiple military aircraft carrier associations Spud belonged to, and promoting their books at many military gatherings. In 2002 they were the honored guests of Spud’s former Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF/VMA 223 held in the city they met. At age 83 she still climbed up into a modern Harrier fighter jet to sit in the cockpit with her Captain. Just a few months after celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, her business partner, best friend and love of her life passed away in 2009. Well into her 90s, Marion retained her unfailing positive outlook on life and remained active, enjoying walks in the desert, gardening, and family gatherings. In 2010 Marion attended her 73rd high school reunion at Brewster Academy and was a guest at the El Toro, CA, homecoming event at the Orange County Great Park and was interviewed by historians about her time living at the air station while Spud trained in preparation for the Korean War. Marion was predeceased in 2015 by her second son, Randall Peterson. She is survived by her son Eric Idarius (who changed his name to the original patriarchal surname of his grandfather) of Talmage, CA; daughters Elaine Averitt of Flagstaff, AZ, and Beverly Dulaney of Scottsdale, AZ; 9 grand kids, Bodhi and Benjamin Idarius, Ansel and Greg Averitt, Lura Dulaney Snow, Cody, Austin and Zane Dulaney, and Dylan Peterson; and 7 great grand children. A memorial service will be held in her honor at 9 AM on Thursday, May 31, at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N. Cave Creek Road in Phoenix.