Funeral
services for Lester ‘Bud’ Peters will be
Monday, March 22, 2010 at the
Pondera Valley Lutheran Church
in Conrad with burial to follow in the
Hillside Cemetery. A reception for family and friends will
follow at the Moose Lodge. Viewing is scheduled from
1-8 pm on Sunday, March 21,
at the Whitted
Funeral Chapel in Shelby.
Lester ‘Bud’ Peters, 88, a longtime area farmer, died of heart failure at his east Ledger family farm Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Born May 30, 1921 to Charles and Anna (Thies) Peters in their Ledgerwood homestead shack, Bud was the eldest of six children. He attended Central School and Conrad High School but had to quit during his freshman year to help his father herd cattle. Bud lived in the Creston area for a short time helping his parents build their mountain home and was in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Kalispell area. He moved to Ledger as a hired hand for various farmers.
From 1942-1945, Peters served with the US Army Corps of Engineers during WWII. His outfit was the 49th Combat Battalion and he served with the 7th Corps, 1st Army as automotive mechanic, rifle marksman, and in the creation of roads/bridges. Bud was awarded the American Theatre Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and Purple Heart for participating in the battles/campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe.
After building his new army war surplus truck, Bud hauled wheat for area farmers and also played piano/accordion for East Glacier/Cut Bank clubs. Following his parents’ retirement, Bud started farming the Peters’ land and married his 18 year old bride, Vivian Spooner, at the Methodist Parsonage in Shelby on January 11, 1947. They raised three daughters plus a son on the east Ledger farm, all four attending the same country school Bud attended during his childhood.
Bud Peters was a talented, charismatic person whose legacy is evident in the reservoirs he dug all over the neighborhood with his caterpillar and scraper. He was the area’s ‘Model-T Godfather’, restoring Model-T’s for family and friends, and winning many Montana 500 Model-T Endurance Runs in his 30+ year racing career. Bud was a Music Man playing piano, accordion, and harmonica at school dances, rest homes, and family gatherings.
Bud is survived by his wife of 63 years, Vivian (Spooner) Peters of Ledger; daughters, Susan Thorp, Cut Bank and her three children, Rhonda Grainger, Cut Bank, Ryan (Crystal) Thorp and Richie (Janelle) Thorp, Seattle WA; Sandra Simons, Shelby, and her three children, Patrick (Shelly) Simons, Bellingham WA, Marilee Simons and Heidi Simons, Salt Lake City UT; and Sally (Rick) Aschim, Sunburst and children, Rhett and Whitney Aschim, Sunburst; son, Terry (Julene) Peters, Ledger, and their children, Cassie Peters, Bozeman, Steven and Brett Peters, Ledger; four great-grandchildren, Madison, Paige, Gage, and Ava; and sisters, Agnes ‘Dot’ Schaefer, Livingston, and Rose Pester, Stanford.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Helen Frank of Creston and Amelia Schaefer of Chester; and brother, Donald Peters, Conrad.
Memorial donations may be made to the Conrad Dollars for Scholars Program (Jim Meier, contact) or the Toole County Education Association (Dwayne Iverson, contact). Special memories for the family may be e-mailed to tjandkids@3rivers.net or rsaschim@northerntel.net.