By Jeff Clemetson | Editor

The man who the Mission Times Courier once proclaimed was the “Nicest Man in Allied Gardens” was honored June 28 with a proclamation making June 28, 2016 John Peterson Day in the city of San Diego.

John Peterson received the proclamation from City Councilmember Scott Sherman at the council chambers in front of many friends and family who were there to show support. Sherman listed the good deeds Peterson has performed for the community over the years — many of them as a member of the Kiwanis Club, which held its own recognition ceremony for him on June 23.

“The recognition for ‘John Pete’ was intended to coincide with his 50th anniversary in the Kiwanis Club,” Grantville Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club president John Crawford said. “We actually had to postpone the recognition from May to June, but we still wanted it to be a surprise. John was disappointed when we let the milestone pass by without recognition in May. Little did he know what we had in store for him.”

Peterson’s service to the community has involved a number of projects, including overseeing the display of American flags on Waring Road during holidays, which he has done since 1970. Peterson also helped to found SpringFest, which was a signature event in the community for more than 12 years. In 1976, he helped create the flagpole at what is now “The Triangle” at the corner of Waring Road and Zion Avenue.

“When that flagpole has needed maintenance over the years, John’s been the spokesman for the cause,” Crawford said, adding that Peterson is also the kind of person who has always been willing to help a neighbor in need. “I remember one occasion when he had a neighbor approaching 100 years of age, and John coordinated an effort to provide some much-needed yardwork that she was unable to complete for herself.”

According to Peterson’s personal memoir titled “Ramblings,” he was born on Nov. 28, 1927 in Winslow, Arizona. He moved to San Diego in 1944 in the middle of his senior year in high school when his father retired from Santa Fe Railroad. He graduated from Sweetwater High School at age 16.

After high school, Peterson lived in Ocean Beach before being drafted into the Army, where he served as a cartographer stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and then in Tokyo, Japan as a member of the 64th Engineer Battalion. He served until 1947.

Peterson received a degree in business administration from San Diego State University and just before graduation began his career at Kettenburg Boat Works, where he worked from 1951 to 1989, rising from part-time employee to vice president. Peterson met Norma Lee Gray at Kettenburg and the couple married in 1953 and remained married for over 60 years until she passed. The Petersons moved to Allied Gardens in 1954 where they raised a daughter, Susan, and a son, Jim.

Peterson joined the Grantville Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club in May 1966 and served as president in 1971-72. He was awarded the club’s highest honor, Kiwanian of the Year, in 1973-74, 1996-97 and 2011-12.

“A 50-year commitment to just about anything is commendable, but with John, it’s even more so,” Crawford said. “He hasn’t been just a member, he’s been a motivator, a good example, and truly one of the good guys in our community. As a Kiwanis member, his dedication is an inspiration to the rest of us. He makes other people want to join our club, and once they’ve joined, he inspires people to become even better as volunteers.”

—Reach Jeff Clemetson at [email protected].