Vernie Charles Petersen

Vernon Charles "Vernie" Petersen, age 91, a lifelong Clark County resident, died in the Golden Living Center at Clark on Friday, February 8, 2013. Visitation will be held on Monday, February 11, 2013 from 4-6PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and will continue on Tuesday morning at the Church in Clark. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 10:30 AM in the St. Paul Lutheran Church at Clark with The Reverend Gary Anderson officiating. Burial will follow in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Clark. The organist will be Dorothy Fuller with Marvine Obermeier and Wendy Christman presenting special music. Casketbearers will be his grandchildren and their spouses. He was born Vernon Charles Petersen on June 13, 1921 a mile south of Clark, the son of Gustuv Hartvig and Hilma Charlotta (Larson) Petersen. Vernie attended school in Merton Township, Clark and Garden City and then graduated from Bradley High School in 1942. He attended a machinist course in Vermillion, SD following high school. He farmed with his dad in Darlington Township until 1946. On October 12, 1946 he was united in marriage to Dorothy Skavang Stevens in the parsonage of the Lutheran Church at Bradley. They lived and farmed west of Bradley on the Colgate farm for 8 years and then in 1954, the family moved to the Petersen homestead in Darlington Township south of Clark where they continued farming for another 8 years. Even though Vernie had been severely burned as a child at the age of 2 ½, that never stopped him whatsoever from his drive to work, from farming to his career in carpentry. In 1960 he began doing carpenter work for Ken Wright and in 1962 the couple moved into Clark. The first home he built on his own was the St. Paul Lutheran Church parsonage and from that time on, he has built in the neighborhood of some 40 homes plus the Clark Golf Club and his own home they just sold. While building houses, he also did many remodeling jobs and whenever the need was there, he was known to many as the Locksmith. In 2000 and 2001 he instructed the Clark High School Ag class in building a house, which they sold, and was awarded the National Honorary F. F. A. Chapter Degree. Working with those students was a highlight of his life! He retired from climbing ladders in 2007, but still enjoyed doing numerous odd jobs around Clark and was still building a cabinet just a month ago for his apartment at the Wookey Assisted Living Center where he and Dorothy were living. He was baptized into the Christian faith by emersion and later was confirmed in the Bradley Methodist Church. He had been a member of the Crocker Lutheran Church and currently was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church where he was active in being an usher, a council member and a former member of the Luther League. In the community, Vernie was a former member of the Clark Rotary Club - a Paul Harris Fellow, the Clark Golf Club and the Clark Area Chamber of Commerce. He loved doing and watching sports, painting pictures, dancing, bowling, archery, hunting and making furniture. Vernie also loved gardening, raising flowers and feeding the birds in his backyard and trying to outwit the squirrels. He had a great sense of humor. Second to none though was his love of his wife Dorothy and his family, who also loved and adored him. He and Dorothy had spent many vacations in different parts of the United States; they very much enjoyed their time together. Preceding him in death were his parents, sisters, Alice Johnson and Sigrid Petersen, brothers, Roy (Gladys), Leonard (Ada) and George, sisters-in-law, Marge and Ruth (Edgar) Brakke and brothers-in-law, Jim Wilson & Richard Smith. Grateful for having shared in his life is his wife of over 66 years, Dorothy of Clark, children, Dan (Bette) Stevens of Okoboji, IA, Jerry (Pam) Petersen of Baltic and Julie (Greg) Cluts of Watertown; 8 grandchildren, Jeff (Becky) Stevens, Heather (Peder) Malchow, Troy Petersen, Adam (Tracy) Petersen, Michelle (Dale) Godbout, Heidi (Andy) Ohotto, Holly (Adam) Borstad and Andrew (Amber) Cluts; 11 great-grandchildren, Chris, Sarah and Madeline Stevens, Adrienne & Claudia Malchow, Taylor & Lauren Godbout, Landon & Luke Petersen, Hailey Borstad and Lorelai Cluts. He also leaves a sister Delores Wilson of Tonasket, WA, a sister-in-law, June Smith of Hackensack, MN, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Funeral arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com