Orin Manfred Peterson Spokane

Sun., Feb. 27, 2000

Orin Manfred Peterson, who was born Feb. 27, 1900, in Black River Falls, Wis., celebrates his 100th birthday today.

Peterson was an itinerant worker throughout the country before farming with family members in Eastern Montana. He first moved to Spokane in the 1920s and convinced his parents, Anton and Inga Peterson, and some of his eight siblings to join him here. They lived on Pleasant Prairie. He served with the Army during World War I and World War II, and eventually moved to Sacramento, Calif., where he operated a poultry farm for 23 years.

Although he never married, Peterson became a foster parent to Carol Herman, whose parents were killed in an auto accident when she was 6. Peterson and her parents were best friends.

Peterson was the middle child of nine children, including Merlin Peterson, who died here in 1996, at the age of 90. Although Orin Peterson has outlived all of his immediate family, he has many nieces and nephews living in Spokane.

When asked about his longevity, Peterson, who returned to the Inland Northwest seven years ago, said, “I didn’t find time to get old, and I had good health habits from my childhood.”

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