Frayne W. Peterson

Frayne William Peterson passed away peacefully of natural causes on September 15, 2023.

Frayne was born on February 8, 1935, to Clarence and Hazel Peterson on a farmstead in Wilton, ND. Frayne spent his childhood years on the farm, milking cows, farming and going to a one room schoolhouse.

Frayne entered military service in 1959 as part of the US Army, being activated twice to Active-Duty service in support of the US Berlin Airlift. Frayne was enormously proud of his service to his country, earning the US. Army’s Good Conduct medal and Rifle Sharpshooter badge. Frayne entered the service as a Private and quickly rose to the rank of Specialist 5 before ending his military career in 1964. Frayne spent his service time as a Combat Engineer, spending time at Fort Riley, KS, Fort Knox, KY, and Fort Sheridan, IL. Frayne became a lifelong member of the American Legion.

Frayne had many hobbies throughout his life. Frayne loved to go hunting, learning how to shoot fast moving pesky rabbits to whitetail deer. Frayne loved to go to the bowling alley to show up the crowd, bowling in the mid to high two hundreds, even occasionally bowling a 300. Frayne’s favorite pastime was watching the Twins play baseball. Frayne went to games in all three Twins stadiums, once with three generations at a game at Target Field in 2015. When the Fargo Moorhead Redhawks became a team in the FM area, Frayne would spend a lot of time at the ballpark after his retirement.

Frayne retired from the Hawley, MN grain elevator in 1998. Frayne either worked at or managed elevators in Wilton, ND, Drake, ND, Moorhead, MN, and Hawley, MN. Frayne was loyal to his job and loved to talk about the substantial number of grain cars the railroads were bringing in, even though it meant long days and nights. Frayne found this way of life gratifying, so much so that after retirement, he went to work nearly full-time at Agassiz Seeds in West Fargo, ND for many years. Frayne loved to talk to people about the farming way of life, you take the boy away from the farm, but not the farming away from the boy.

Frayne married his first wife, Emma (Towberman) Peterson in Drake, ND on December 27, 1965. Emma had been married previously to Evan McCarty and they had three children, Timothy McCarty and twins Keith and Kent McCarty. Through Frayne and Emma’s marriage, they had two children, Carlon Peterson and Blaine Peterson. Frayne remained married to Emma until her passing on October 7, 1970. Frayne remarried to Patricia (McGillivray) Peterson on May 4, 1973. Patricia had been previously married to Samual Rogers, having two children in that marriage, Nancy Rogers, and Scott Rogers. Frayne and Patricia remained married until Patricia’s passing on January 5, 2023.

Frayne is proceeded in death by wives, Emma (Towberman, McCarty) Peterson, Patricia (McGillivray, Rogers) Peterson, stepson, Timothy McCarty, stepson, Scott Rogers, and brother, David Peterson.

Frayne is survived by stepdaughter, Nancy (Jim Birkel) Rogers; stepsons, Keith (Janet) McCarty, and Kent McCarty; sons, Carlon (Joelle) Peterson, and Blaine (Kathy) Peterson; 10 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; sisters, Jean Bindfeld, Mary Lou Hanson; brothers, Jim and Jerry (Corrine); and stepdaughter-in-law, Kathi Rogers.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 2:00 PM with a visitation one hour before the service at Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN.

A committal service with full military honors will be held Friday, September 22, at 2:00 PM in the North Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery, Mandan, ND.