Peterson, John W. 1921-2006
(John Willard Peterson)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born November 1, 1921, in Lindsborg, KS; died of cancer, September 20, 2006, in Scottsdale, AZ. Musician, businessperson, and author. Peterson was a famous composer of gospel music who penned over one thousand hymns and other religious music in his lifetime. He was an airplane transport pilot during World War II, flying routes over the Himalaya Mountains. Upon returning home, he attended the Moody Bible Institute and then completed a bachelor's degree at the American Conservatory of Music in 1953. He had been working, in the meantime, as a musician for WMBI-Radio in Chicago. In 1955, Peterson became president and editor in chief of publishing company Singspiration, Inc., in Montrose, Pennsylvania. He left the job in 1970 to work the next seven years as a freelance composer and musician. In 1977, he cofounded Good Life Productions in Scottsdale, Arizona. He served as the company's president until 1983, when he founded his own company, John W. Peterson Music Co., also based in Scottsdale. Among Peterson's many original gospel hymns are "Surely Goodness and Mercy," "It Took a Miracle," and "So I Send You." Selections of his songs were collected in the four-volume Miracle Melodies (1953-56) and John Peterson's Folio of Favorites (1958). He recorded his life story in The Miracle Goes On (1977).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Peterson, John W., and Richard Enquist, The Miracle Goes On, Zondervan, 1977.

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, October 6, 2006, p. B11.

New York Times, October 3, 2006, p. C15.