Fort Lewis College Professor Emeritus Carroll Valleen “Dr. Pete” Peterson, who was dubbed the “godfather of barbershopping” for his many efforts in bringing music to Southwest Colorado, died of cancer at his Durango home Friday night. He was 86.
Peterson, one of the founders of the Durango Barbershoppers in 1968, also led the Fort Lewis College English department for almost a decade and created some of the most elegant Christmas lights in town at his home in the 600 block of East Third Avenue.
But most people knew him because of the music. Peterson served as director of the chapter chorus for almost 25 years, sang in several different quartets, including The Golden Spikes, The Durango Old-Fashioned Music and Screen Door Co., and until recently, when he became ill, with First Class Delivery. By 2008, he was the only remaining charter member of the chorus.
“He told me that in barbershop, we do not conduct like a real choir,” said Amy Barrett, who became the first female conductor of a male chorus in the Rocky Mountain District 20 years ago as she was graduating from Fort Lewis College. “You’re not just waving your arms in 4/4 time. We don’t sing it exactly the way it’s written on the page. He said, ‘Be brave, be creative, you go at it.’”
Peterson created the Silverton Barbershop Musical Festival, one of the highlights of summer in the small mountain town, and ran it for 20 years.
“He loved, loved, loved that festival and sharing music with the town,” Barrett said. “Ending the festival with the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ was his contribution to patriotism. Well, that, and the Korean War.”
Peterson’s music career began at the age of 4, singing for Sunday school programs at the small church in his hometown, Kost, Minnesota, where he was born to Swedish immigrant farmers Wilfred and Axia Peterson on Dec. 30, 1929. As he grew up, Peterson sang at school, at church, at Sunday school and at home.
After high school, Peterson, who had a knack with numbers, studied accounting , a skill he also used while deployed with the Headquarters Company of the 1092nd Engineer Combat Battalion in Korea. When he returned to the States, he was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, where he met his future wife, Maxine Wauson. The couple married in 1954.
With his new wife in tow, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota on the GI Bill to study English education. Graduation came with several honors, including induction into Phi Beta Kappa and a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate study. After earning his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Iowa, Peterson began his teaching career at Illinois State University, but a chance visit to the area led him to apply at Fort Lewis College, and the Peterson family moved to Durango in 1968.
While at Fort Lewis, Peterson was the second winner of the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and chaired the English department for almost a decade.
“He created a very healthy department,” said FLC Professor Emerita Shaila Van Sickle, who followed him in the position. “One thing he told me was that the maintenance people and the secretaries were just as important to the department as the professors. A lot of us came thinking this (a position at FLC) was a stepping stone, but you don’t walk away from this kind of atmosphere.”
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Memorial service
A celebration of life for Carroll “Pete” Peterson will be held promptly at 4:01 p.m. Wednesday in the Ballroom in the Student Union Building at Fort Lewis College. He asked that people come wearing colorful clothing and not make it too somber.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Carroll V. Peterson Scholarship Fund, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango, CO 81301 or https://apps.fortlewis.wedu/makeagift; or the Durango Barbershoppers, 1788 Trail Ridge Road, Durango, CO 81301.
Peterson is survived by his wife of 62 years, Maxine Peterson, of Durango; children Trent Peterson, Terryl Peterson and Janet Peterson, all of Durango, and Laurel Harris of Florida; five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one nephew.
