James Brooks Peterson

James Brooks ‘Pete’ Peterson, 89, of Memphis, Tennessee, passed at home on Friday, October 8, 2010, following a recent and severe stroke.

Pete is survived by his loving wife of sixty-nine years, Maridecine Clarke Peterson of Memphis, his brother, Col. Robert Darden Peterson (USAF-Ret) of Ft. Worth, Texas, and two sons, David Clarke Peterson and Edgar Allen Peterson IV, both of Memphis. He also leaves three grandsons, Alan Ray Ferguson of Chicago, Justin Brooks Peterson of Los Angeles, and Brian James Ferguson of Oxford, Mississippi, and two granddaughters, Galey Brooks Peterson and Grace Claire Peterson, both of Memphis. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, James Brooks Peterson, Jr. of San Francisco, his daughter, Laura Lee Peterson Ferguson of Memphis, and his brother, Edgar Allen Peterson III of Forrest City, Arkansas.

Pete was born in Detroit, Michigan, but his hometown was, and will always be, Jonesboro, Arkansas. He grew up in the family home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Allen Peterson, which was located at 218 Creath Street. Graduating from Jonesboro High School, he attended Arkansas State University, where he met the love of his life, Maridecine Clarke, of Steele, Missouri. Pete proposed to Mary on December 7, 1941, and following their marriage on January 2, 1942, he began defending his country as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in W.W. II.

Pete was reunited with Mary after his service of three and a half years in the Pacific theatre, where he was involved in several battles and campaigns, including Guadalcanal, Luzon, the air offensive of Japan, and the liberation of the Southern Philippines. Among these battles was an intense fight defending a small, yet strategic, island used for refueling U.S. aircraft. The invasion witnessed Captain Peterson strapping a bayonet to his .45 caliber pistol poised to repel the invaders and save his men.

Following the war, he remained in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a major. He was instrumental in forming the Jonesboro Chapter of V.F.W., and he held the position as the first commandant of that chapter. Pete worked for the financial company C.I.T. for more than thirty years, retiring in Memphis in 1986. He possessed a great sense of humor and was an extraordinary gentleman.

Funeral services will be held Monday morning at 11:00 in First Baptist Church of Jonesboro with Dr. Bruce Tippit officiating. Burial will follow in City Cemetery with Emerson Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

There will be no visitation.

For lasting memorials, the family asks that consideration be given to the American Stroke Association, 1101 Northchase Parkway, Marietta, GA 30067.