Gene and Ann Peterson mark 75 years of marriage

Article courtesy of The Tribune/Written by Mavis Gonshorowski

The Middle River Record, February 28, 1941, reads… 

“Miss Annie Wagner of Middle River and Eugene F. Peterson of Gatzke were united in the holy bonds of matrimony on Wednesday at the First Lutheran parsonage by Rev. G.T. Bergee.”

The following week’s issue stated…

“Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Peterson who were married here last week by Rev. Bergee will be giving a wedding dance at Gatzke Saturday evening. Music is being furnished by Ernie and his orchestra.”  

Friday, February 26, marked 75 years of marriage for Gene and Ann Peterson. They became residents of the LifeCare Greenbush Manor’s Assisted Living unit on February 1. Gene was born to parents Arvid and Clara Peterson.

“I’ll be 98 in June - I guess I’m an antique,” he chuckled.

His father worked for the Great Northern Railroad for 43 years.

“Because of railroad seniority rights Dad moved around quite a bit,” he said. “There were seven boys and four girls in the family. At one time we lived just west of Badger and I attended school there through ninth grade. We also lived in Shelly, Minn., and out in North Dakota.”

Gene’s grandfather lived on the site where Morris and Sharon Vacura now reside. His brother, Dale, lives “just down the road” from them. 

Ninety-three year-old Ann Wagner came from a family of four boys and four girls, Ann being the youngest. When she was four years old her father passed away.  

“Mom never remarried,” Ann commented. “She and the kids continued to farm the land. Mom always had a big garden, and cows, sheep, and chickens like everyone else did. I remember Mom knitting socks from the sheep’s wool that she carded. They were so warm; I still have some of them today. I went to a country school by Middle River through the eighth grade. Mom couldn’t afford to send us to high school.”

In earlier years Gene worked at the gas station in Gatzke and would walk on over to the local café for meals. It so happened there was this cute little waitress who caught his attention. After dating for about seven months the couple “tied the knot”. Their attendants were Ann’s brother, John, and Gene’s sister, Genvieve.

The bride was attired in a velvet maroon-colored dress; the groom in his best suit.

“I didn’t pay a lot for my dress…probably about $10,” Ann said. “I was only making three or four dollars a week plus room and board.”

Did they go on a honeymoon? “Yeah, to an old school house,” Ann replied. “Gene lived there after his folks...that’s as far as we got. We lived in it for six years.”

Gene said that their only transportation back then was his old ‘29 Model A Ford and a horse and sled. “That was all we had.” 

Ann added, “Everybody was poor at that time. We did a lot of visiting back and forth - it’s not like that now.”

They witnessed the blizzard that hit Minnesota and North Dakota on Saturday, March 15, 1941. Fifty-five mph winds (with gusts reaching 85 mph in Grand Forks) brought blinding snow and huge seven-foot-high snow drifts across the states. A total of 151 people lost their lives. 

Ann commented, “It was terrible - there was so much snow; we were blocked in for a week.”   

In 1941, on December 7, the United States entered into World War II.  

Gene said that winter he and Ann picked cattails. “People would come with trucks and load them up; they were brought to Holt where they were sold.”

The cattail leaves and fluff were stuffed into bedding and pillows, and during WWII were stuffed into life vests and seat cushions for tanks and airplanes.

The Peterson’s 320-acre farm, located five miles east of Gatzke, consisted of milk cows, beef cattle, sheep and chickens. Crops raised were grass seed and oats, used mostly for feed.

“At one time,” Ann remarked, “there were four or five farms on every section of land; now there is one farm on four or five sections.”

“We went kind of slow,” Gene said. “We never bought anything until we could pay for it.”

To supplement the family’s income, during the winter months Gene trapped fox, skunk, and occasionally a weasel.

Ann told about saving dimes prior to the birth of her first two children who were born at home.

“You know you’re going to have a baby in nine months so I began saving dimes and by the time the children were born I had saved up $35 - enough money to pay the doctor bill. My mother was the midwife. At that time, new mothers had to stay in bed for nine days.” The last four Peterson children were born in a hospital. 

Their cowherd numbered 70 at the most. “We sold our cows a few years ago. It was at the time when one deer had tested positive for TB in the area and the DNR was afraid of the cattle getting it. The cows had to be tested every year and it caused a lot of stress on them. As soon as they saw strange vehicles come into the yard and all of the extra noise that went with it, they would take off running to the farthest end of the pasture. To have them go through this year after year was just too hard on them so we decided to sell. They never tested positive for TB.”

Two of Gene’s brothers were employed with the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 as a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. They and three other brothers spent time in the U.S. military.

Because Gene was involved in farming, which played a huge role in the war effort, he didn’t have to go to the service.  

“The slogan was ‘Food Will Win the War’. Farmers were encouraged to produce lots of food. They say that’s why the U.S. has done so well - because of the food produced.”

In all of their years together, the couple borrowed money twice - once to buy their farm and to buy the Belarus tractor, the only brand new tractor Gene ever had.

As a homemaker, Ann always raised a big garden and canned a lot of the produce. She’s made a number quilts and her love of flowers has surrounded the perimeter of the family home with colorful varieties of annual and perennials every year. Through the summer of 2014, Ann could be found on her riding lawn mower tending to the upkeep of the four or five-acre yard. Last summer she canned two crates of peaches and 50 pints of applesauce of which is a daily breakfast favorite of Gene’s.

Gene has served as a member of the township board, school board and creamery board.  

The Petersons are parents to six children: Myrna (Marv) Espe, South Range, Wisc.; Gary (Dena) of Greenbush; Dwight (Janis), Warren, Minn.; Maureen (Bob) Giffin, Thief River Falls, Minn.; Joni (Craig) Swenson, East Grand Forks, Minn., and Tami (Daryl) Comstock, Grygla, Minn. The family tree branches out to include 16 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Both are avid book readers and Gene continues to keep daily tabs on the cattle and grain markets in the newspapers.

The Petersons commented about their new home at the Greenbush Manor…

“Well, we’d really prefer the farm but this is the next best place,” said Gene. Ann added, “I really like it here. And, we’ve had a lot of company - one day we had four couples from Gatzke come to visit. There’s hardly a day that someone doesn’t stop by. All of the people here are nice; easy to get along with.”

Congratulations to the Petersons on 75 years of marriage!