Family of 'Coach Pete' seeks input about storied career
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his induction into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the family of Don Peterson is compiling a retrospective of his playing/coaching career.
We covet input from coaches and players who were impacted by “Coach Pete” during his career in Florence, Frenchtown, Belt, Choteau, Laurel and Bigfork or perhaps who played basketball with him in Cut Bank during his high school years.
My oldest brother, Lt. Col. Ric Peterson, and my older sister, Dee Baxter, were discussing Dad’s career in coaching on Aug. 17, some 30 years after Dad’s induction into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame. They realized that, although they were only three years different in age, their recollections had very little overlap.
They decided to engage in the task of writing a book about Dad’s career utilizing the perspective of all six of his offspring. He had coached all six of us in Laurel from 1967 to 1979 before he and Mom moved to Bigfork. (He later came out of retirement in the mid-90s to coach in Bigfork as well!)
Once Dee and Ric engaged Mom and the other four of us it became apparent how different our perspective and recollections are. Further, we shared with each other perspectives shared with us as adults by players, coaches, and referees that interacted with Dad during his 32-year career coaching so many sports in six different Montana high schools over five decades. Three of us are retired and have the time to work on this task, and I need your help.
I was charged with obtaining additional input outside our immediate family before many more of Dad’s contemporaries pass on to their eternal reward and the opportunity for such inclusion is lost.
Even though many of our contemporaries are scattered to the four points of the compass (We six live on the East Coast, the West Coast and three states in between!), we believe that family members still living in your circulation area will contact their out-of-state brethren with news of our effort. You can take the boy out of Montana but you cannot take the Montana out of the boy! At any rate, we desire maximum input from fellow Montanans positively impacted by their sports experience with Dad and any life lessons learned therein that impacted them later in life.
We hope to hear from coaches and players who knew “Coach Pete” during his career in Florence, Frenchtown, Belt, Choteau, Laurel and Bigfork. Please transmit your recollections to :
Lt. Col. Ric Peterson, OD (Ret)
ric.peterson22@gmail.com
or to
Rand Peterson
randathome@msn.com
The favor of a response by Oct. 10 is requested. We are endeavoring to complete this project before the end of the upcoming basketball season and very much appreciate your interest and assistance. Thanks for contributing to this reminiscence of Coach Peterson — beloved husband and dad.
Rand Peterson is a resident of Boiling Springs, S.C.