Few reading this, except close friends and West Bend natives, may realize the loss of one of our community’s original “building blocks” and true Christians as we tell of the passing of our beloved Glenn George Peters from his earthly home to his eternal home in heaven.
Glenn had a simple start on the Orrin Peters farm at the corner of Main Street and Paradise Drive in West Bend where, attended by a country doctor, he was born on the kitchen table. The second of four children in an active farm family, life went on through the “tough 30’s”, as Glenn grew up with his paternal grandparents also under the same roof. He started Sunday School at four years old, where he learned to love Jesus, and his strong faith stayed with him the rest of his life, through good and bad. He attended Rusco Country School, where all 8 grades were taught in one room, and this kept him grounded throughout his life.
Growing up on the family farm, Glenn was in charge of managing 125 laying hens for their weekly egg route, while his younger brother, Willard, was responsible for the dairy cows. Neighbor helping neighbor, it was hard yet rewarding work in the effort to help the community through the Great Depression. A dozen eggs were always available to anyone in need.
While attending West Bend High School, now where Badger Middle School sits, Glenn’s part-time job was cleaning the local drugstore after hours with his buddies, who he said were always on the lookout for girls, which just made more work for Glenn who considered girls to be a “big distraction” from the job at hand. He ran trap lines for mink, fox, and muskrat, and also farmed mink. Before leaving for the Navy, he sold the 70 mink he raised for $1600 to Sears and Roebuck, who would send the pelts to Europe. It was valuable savings he would later use to start his construction business upon his return home.
In 1951, at 19 years of age Glenn volunteered for service in the US Navy to be an Aviation Electrician. He spent four years with a VC8 A-Bomb squadron on a Carrier Base A Bomber Ship that was serving as a deterrent from Russian aggression against Germany during the Korean conflict. He sailed on the Midway Roosevelt and the Coral Sea aircraft carriers, and got to see France, Germany, England, Spain and North Africa during his tour of duty. After receiving his honorable discharge he went on to study civil engineering and building contracting at Chicago Technical College before returning home to West Bend to build homes, which he knew that he wanted to do from the time he was 4 years old.
In 1959 Glenn met Myra Fierek, a local Home Economist, when she fortuitously just happened to run out of gas in front of the Peters farm. He was drawing house plans in the kitchen when the pretty knock for assistance came to the door and the love story began.
Glenn lived a life of discipline, and he provided his family an idyllic upbringing through his home construction company, Peters Development Corporation. Life on Paradise Drive truly was a country paradise with his three children, Steve, Jeannine and David growing up with aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents just down the road all living near to each other on the family farm, which is now the location of Hobby Lobby and Home Depot. Glenn would lead his kids on adventurous hikes through 40 acres of field and forest with an “onward hoho!” as everyone was told to grab a walking stick and come along.
He was home every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with general contracting calls made before breakfast and after eating lunch, since he was running a productive field business in a time long before cell phones. Glenn’s motto was, “there are two kinds of people in this world: those that want to get something done before they die, and those that want to die before they get anything done, and its up to you to decide! I want to get something done before I die!”
The family took memorable car trips to the Land of Lincoln and ski trips to Michigan. Glenn was a good sport for a hard-working man and agreed to try the Fred Astaire ballroom dancing lessons Myra signed them up for with friends, though she would always contend he sorely “lacked rhythm!” He also appreciated the fine arts and was a particular fan of the operatic tenor, Pavarotti, and went to see him live in New York City. He enjoyed matting and framing art prints in his home studio and amassed a great collection of wildlife scenes from the likes of Owen Gromme to Scott Zoellick. Glenn also had a farm-boy’s green thumb and often produced upwards of 100 quarts of raspberries from his own patch. With Myra, he belonged to a cribbage club and continued to play a competitive game up until his final months. He loved to read books about people who overcame challenges, and in later years his Bible was his constant friend.
As many know, Glenn was an avid hunter and fisherman, earning the legendary moniker of “Musky Glenn”. There were regular fishing trips to Canada and Sand Lake, and a couple up to Alaska. His “rec-room” was filled with statuesque deer heads and swimming muskie mounts. Pheasant was his favorite gamebird to hunt. Family and friends regularly heard the tale of a mysterious “pre-nup” that was signed by Myra and securely kept in a safe at the Town of West Bend stating that he could go hunting and finishing whenever he wanted to, though if said document still exists the family would like to see it!
Glenn was committed to a life of service, and proudly chaired the St. John’s Lutheran Church Building Fund; founded the West Bend Area Builder’s Association along with friends Dave Bohn and Oscar Hetzel, serving 2 years as President; and was also a longtime member of the West Bend Noon Kiwanis Club, where he was elected to serve as President. He remained a dedicated member and worked on the annual steak fry into his 90’s. He also helped Myra with her many volunteer activities. She signed him up to install over a mile of boardwalk trail through the Riveredge Nature Center, and he hand-built 40 cedar birdhouses along the trails—many of which are still present today. He was proud to serve the community he grew up in.
But Glenn’s calling was always building homes. He became a prominent local developer and builder, expanding growth to every corner of the West Bend area. It was his goal to provide affordable housing to any person who wanted to own a home, and he impressively built hundreds of homes, condominiums and apartments throughout his long career. He always said building was in the Peters DNA, as he carried on the construction tradition brought over when his ship-building ancestors came from Germany in the 1840’s. He passed the trade onto his children and grandchildren, who continue to “build” to this day.
Glenn was an excellent mentor, with all three of his children as well as his grandsons having the privilege of learning to build “on the jobs” at Glenn’s side, often with a cup of coffee nearby. Not a single building plan went out without his thumb print on it. Even at 94 he was still “advising” his grandsons on home plans and always wished he could “build one more home”. We are sure he’s up there in heaven scoping out a jobsite with his old buddies right now.
His other great love, besides his faith and family, was spending time on his hunting farm up in Elderon, Wisconsin where Myra was born and raised. His grandchildren remember mornings of hungry jacks, which were his specialty, and evenings of “shining for deer”, planting Christmas trees on the tree farm, and telling hunting stories of the many, many trophy bucks taken during a good hunting season.
Glenn’s later years were tough on him with bad knees, arthritis and other irritations, though he always did his “exercises”, and made breakfast omelets for his Myra every morning. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather, and a very special man. In short, he was an inspiration.
It was Glenn’s wish that his ashes be spread on his beloved Elderon farm. This peaceful site is near a large woods, and Glenn wrote the following words himself with the hope that “on a quiet spring day you may just hear a faint ‘baa baa baa’ as a new fawn is being born, and in a few short weeks its mother will take it to visit Glenn’s gravesite to eat the tender clover, and a new life continues on the grace of the one that came before. And as this goes on year after year, may Glenn also live on in the fields and forests where he spent so many happy times. Glenn’s earthly journey has ended, but his spiritual journey goes on and on.” He shared this wish for Myra as well with her recent passing, and Glenn looked forward to reuniting with her in heaven according to his great faith.
He is survived by his three children: Steve (Linna) Peters; Jeannine (Michael) Peters Belongia; and David (Kimberly) Peters. He leaves eight grandchildren: Nicholas (Paden) Peters, Alexandra (Mason) Anklam, Joseph Peters, Samuel (Taylor) Peters, Ave Maria Peters, Valen Peters, Asher Peters and Thomas Wang; and two great-grandchildren, Waylon and Tennessee May Anklam. He also leaves his siblings Audrey Yahr, Willard Peters, and Elaine (Al) Prost, along with numerous beloved nieces, nephews and cherished friends.
Phillip Funeral Home is assisting the family. No services are planned at this time. Condolences may be shared with the family care of Jeannine Peters Belongia, 7240 Susan Drive, West Bend, WI 53090. Any memorials received will be donated to the West Bend Kiwanis Club in the spirit of Glenn’s dedication to the community and know they will be much appreciated.