Art Peterson, who was a Denver radio and television broadcaster for nearly four decades, died Saturday at Denver Hospice. He was 89.
A graveside service is planned for 2 p.m. Aug. 19 at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Shelter A.
A gathering will follow at 3:30 p.m. at Heather Gardens Community Center.
Peterson “represented the epitome of a broadcaster,” said Ron Palmquist, a former colleague.
“He had the voice, the serious demeanor, was inquisitive, knew everyone and dressed well,” said Palmquist, who lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Peterson covered Pope Paul VI and traveled with five presidents, from Harry Truman through Richard Nixon, according to a friend, the late Tom Pade, in an article for the Denver Catholic Register.
But Peterson always said his proudest achievement was “breaking in” Curt Gowdy in 1943 on Gowdy’s first day of work at KFBC, a Cheyenne radio station.
Gowdy went on to become a nationally famous sports announcer.
After Cheyenne, Peterson moved to Denver and worked for KVOD (later KHOW) where he stayed for 17 years. He went from there to KTLN and KUSA-Channel 9 television. He and Dave Scott had a morning show, called “Anything Goes.”
He then was on the air at KUSA, where he did the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts for four years, said his daughter, Nancy Peterson of Aurora.
He was on the air when the U.S. entered World War II and when the war ended in 1945.
He was known as “The Man on the Go” at Channel 9, often traveling to major international stories, including the Vietnam War as well as the civil war in the Dominican Republic, and doing stories in Japan and Europe, his family said.
He was inducted into the Colorado Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005.
Peterson was a stickler for spelling and grammar, said his son Randy Peterson of Littleton. And he demanded good spelling and grammar from his children.
He retired in 1980 and told The Denver Catholic Register that television “isn’t fun anymore. Too much glamour and too many consultants.”
After his broadcasting years, Peterson worked in public relations for St. Anthony Hospital.
Arthur R. Peterson was born Oct. 19, 1918, in Cheyenne and moved to Fort Collins as a child. He told his family that he decided he wanted to be in broadcasting after listening to a radio broadcast in 1927 of the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight.
Art Peterson met Marjorie Ise of Denver at a sorority dance, and Peterson told his family later, “It was instant. She was the prettiest girl at the dance.”
They married on March 1, 1942.
In addition to his wife, daughter and son, Peterson is survived by another son, Gary Peterson of Littleton; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
