Robert A. Peterson

December 23, 2017 at the age of 86 years in Milan, Italy. Robert was born in 1931 to Alton and Marjorie (Neller) Peterson in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. He grew up in the family home at Willow Valley Farm near Daleyville. He attended the local two-room grade school and Mt. Horeb High School, graduating with the Class of ’49. He was a member of Perry Lutheran Church in which he was baptized and confirmed. Robert then attended Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, graduating with a major in political science. Subsequently he served in the U.S. Army and was based in Japan for three years, after which he returned to Lawrence College as part of their Public Relations staff. Several years later he sailed to Indonesia with the hospital ship HOPE, as Chief Communications Officer. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1962 with a master’s degree in political science and public relations. During his time on the staff of Lawrence College he met Kay Mueller; they were married in 1962. He worked for Intercontinental Hotels in Indonesia and for Fodor Travel Guides in Brazil, until in 1968 he was hired by 3M Company to coordinate their European subsidiaries’ public relations departments, first from Geneva, Switzerland and then from Milan, Italy. Starting in the mid-1970s he developed and coordinated a series of roundtables and forums for public relations and corporate communications professionals in Europe and the United States. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, his stepfather Curtis Greenwald, his wife’s parents, Edgar and Dorothy Mueller and her sister Faith Christine (Mueller) Rath, his brother-in-law Ken Rath, as well as his brother-in-law, James Brue of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. He is survived by his wife Kay, of Milan, Italy, his sister, Kristin (Peterson) Brue of Mt. Horeb and his brother John (Glenna Griffen) Greenwald of Cleveland. Also surviving is his brother-in-law David Mueller of Mayville, Wisconsin, as well as his niece and nephews, their six children and four grandchildren. Memorial Visitation Tuesday, June 5 from 12:30 - 1:00 PM at ST. ADALBERT CEMETERY HOLY FAMILY CHAPEL (3801 S. 6th St, Milwaukee, WI 53221) followed by Memorial Service at 1:00 PM then Military Honors Ceremony.