John C. Peters

John Chilson Peters, a respected attorney and loving husband and father, died of heart failure Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at the age of 77. People will remember John for his booming laugh, warm smile, compassion, and sharp intellect. He was born on May 16, 1931 to Borghild Chilson and Edward H. Peters I, in the small town of Webster, South Dakota. As a youth he spent many summer days at the family's cabin on Pickerel Lake, and worked in the family-owned Elevator Store. He graduated from Webster High School.He attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1953, Summa Cum Laude with a major in English and History. He met Charlotte Erickson while attending Augustana, and they were married in 1953. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1979.He entered the U.S. Navy through Officer Candidate School in Newport and served in the Navy from 1953-1957 ; Lt.jg; Lt. USNR on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands and on the U.S.S. Ruchamkin APD 89 based in Boston. He attended The University of Michigan Law School, earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1959, Cum Laude. While at the University of Michigan, he was Assistant Editor of the Law Review, and a member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school he returned to Sioux Falls, SD, and began his career with Boyce Murphy McDowell and Johnson. In 1960 he joined the law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore in New York City as an associate, and established residence in Staten Island. While at Cravath, he gained expertise in corporate and securities law, and mergers and acquisitions. He accepted an offer in 1968 to become a partner in the young law firm Kutak Rock Campbell & Peters, and moved to Omaha, NE. In addition to his main work in corporate law, he did not shy away from an unpopular role during that turbulent time, representing the garbage workers' union when it went on strike. In 1974 he became a senior partner in the firm of Reid and Riege in Hartford, CT, and he and his family moved to West Hartford. In 1982 he set up a practice of his own, working together with a number of attorneys in corporate, securities, banking law, litigation, and probate law throughout subsequent years. His work converting savings banks from mutual ownership to stock ownership led him to Pawling, New York, where he met Betty Jane B.J. Guidetti at the Lodge, an Italian restaurant which she owned and managed. Married almost twenty-five years ago on March 18, 1984, he and his wife shared their passion for family, friends, golf, fine food, and their dog. In 1987, he joined a team of two other attorneys in a client's successful litigation against a large New England bank. A six-week trial in U.S. District Court ended when a jury delivered an award of $15 million, which was at that time one of the largest civil damage judgments against a bank. In recent years he became actively involved with probate and elder law. In one pro bono case he successfully used a writ of habeas corpus to free a man from conservatorship and an arrangement that the Superior Court judge described as "a terrible miscarriage of justice". He was admitted to the bar in South Dakota in 1959, U.S. Federal Court in 1961, New York in 1961, Nebraska in 1968, and Connecticut in 1974. He served on an Advisory Committee for the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut, was a member of the American Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association. He also served as director of a number of companies. He is survived by his wife B.J. Peters of West Hartford, brother Edward H. Peters, II Charlotte of Tucson, AZ, son Douglas Peters Maria of Sioux Falls, SD, son Mark Peters Evonne of Marblehead, MA, daughter Julie Peters of California, grandchildren Michelle, Daniel, and Maximilian, step-daughter Bonnie Frederick Joseph of Wingdale, NY, step-daughter Barbara Carlo John of Wingdale, NY, step-grandchildren Jamie, Jessie, Heather, Eric, and John, and five step-great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held March 21, 2009 from 11-1 pm at the Molloy Funeral Home, 906 Farmington Ave. West Hartford CT. Donations in memory of John C. Peters should be made to Augustana College, 2001 S. Summit Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57197 or to the American Cancer Society.

John C. Peters

May 16, 1931 - February 24, 2009