Don and Laverna Petersen

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On July 12, Don and Laverna Petersen of Ferron will celebrate their 70th Wedding Anniversary. They have lived in Emery County for 89 years.
Laverna was born in Clawson and Don was born in Molen in 1927. Laverna’s dad, Homer Duncan was a coal miner, road builder and farmer. She has three sisters and one brother, Dean, who was killed in Europe during World War II.
Don’s dad, Seely Petersen, was a farmer in Molen and was active in the community as superintendent of schools in Emery County for some time. Don has a brother, Keith, who has passed away, and a sister, Joyce, who lives with her husband, Arden Larsen of Ferron, in Salt Lake City.
Both Don and Laverna attended elementary and high school in Ferron. After graduating from South Emery High School, Laverna worked in Layton, Utah and Don attended the College of Eastern Utah in Price before joining the Army-Air Force. His military service was during the later stages of World War II but he spent his time in Panama, which was an adventure, but didn’t involve him in the fighting in Europe.
Don and Laverna’s courtship was during the early part of Don’s military enlistment. He would hitch hike from wherever he was stationed in the United States back to Utah to carry on the courtship.
They were married on July 12, 1946 in Clawson, Utah during one of Don’s furloughs. They have four children, John Petersen of Springville; Gayle Davido of Helper; Ray Petersen of Ferron and Kaye Anderson of Colorado Springs, Colorado.