Born December 31, 1931 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa to Clarence and Violet (Erickson) Peterson. Keith was the 1st of 4 children and grew up on a family farm northwest of Shelby, Iowa.
He graduated from Shelby High School in 1950. He attended Dana College in Blair, NE and then went into the Army from Sept 1952 to March 1954 and served in the Korean war.
He married Mary Jane Johnson on September 23, 1956, who first met at St. Paul Lutheran Church. They lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa and he worked at Union Pacific.
After a year of marriage, they moved south of Shelby and in 1960 settled on their farm west of Shelby, where they raised three kids; Marlene, Barb and Gail. He farmed for 58 years.
He loved his family and enjoyed flying, traveling and finding a new restaurant to eat at. Also enjoyed driving for ES&S delivering election equipment. He was a member of the American Legion and an active member at the Shelby Lutheran Church.
On Monday, March 13, 2023, Keith passed away surrounded by his loving family, having attained the age of 91 years, 2 months and 13 days. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary Jane, Parents Clarence and Violet Peterson, nephews David and Mark Pfankuch, and Kevin Kamm.
Left to cherish his memory are children Marlene (Frank) Nelsen of Avoca; Barb (Richard) Jablonski of Elkhorn, NE; Gail (Robin) Peterson of Shelby; grandchildren: Linsey (Evan) McCarthy of Avoca, Iowa; Josh (Janese) Nelsen of Daphne, Alabama; Kaylan (Dylan) Evans of Omaha, Nebraska; Jennifer Jablonski of Omaha, Nebraska; Heidi (Brandt) Langer of Harlan, Iowa; Haley (Justin) Wooster of Harlan, Iowa; Taylor Peterson of Omaha, Nebraska; Sydney Peterson of Shelby, Iowa and fiancé Shane Schwaninger of Clatonia, Nebraska; great-grandchildren : Flynn, Kellan and Mara McCarthy of Avoca, Iowa; Sawyer Evans of Omaha, Nebraska; Easton and Maci Langer of Harlan, Iowa; Charles Wooster of Harlan, Iowa; Brady Nelsen of Daphne, Alabama; siblings: Paul (Merry Lee) Peterson; Bonnie (Paul) Pfankuch of Boise, ID; Jeanette (Terry) Kamm of Meridian, ID; nieces and nephews; other family and many friends.
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