David Warner Peterson, son of Maynard and Janet Peterson (Finn), was born in New Haven, CT, on January 24, 1930. He died on January 25, 2025, at the age of 95. As a child and teen, he enjoyed summers in S. Carver, MA, with his family on Sampson’s Pond.

His early adulthood included stints at UConn (Ft Trumbull) and in the military. He earned degrees at Wesleyan and Harvard Universities. David was one of the founding faculty members in 1957 of a (then) experimental high school in Warren, NJ, Watchung Hills Regional High School (WHRHS), first as an English teacher and then as a Guidance Counselor and Director until retirement in 1992. In his retirement, he was the first online “college board director” for AOL. He loved being a counselor, helping students and their parents find the right colleges or careers for them; many of them remember him fondly.

In 1959, he married Jeanette (Jan) Peterson (Nitrauer) and spent the next 65 years together, raising three children.

David loved the outdoors and for over 50 years, he dedicated his free time to preserving as much green space as he could in Warren, NJ (his home then), as a member of the town Environment Commission, The Planning Board, and in his retirement – as the town’s Trails Committee’s lead bushwacker – engaging the DPW and other enthusiastic volunteers in creating an extraordinary collection of trails. He was also a faithful docent at a neighboring historic site, the “Codington Farmstead”.

David spent summers and weekends “playing in the backyard”, creating and maintaining trails, diverting streams, building ponds, pruning trees, and moving rocks. One of his pleasures was writing, both professionally and personally; he would say that he “dabbled in poetry”. He was an avid jogger/walker, always with an eye toward keeping fit. David loved taking pictures, many of them on his frequent trips with friends and family. He enjoyed all of the same diversions in his later home in Leverett, MA. However, a lifetime of summers at the family cottage in S. Carver were the ones that were most deeply imprinted upon him.

David was predeceased by his brother, Robert, and his sister, Mary. He is also survived by his wife, Jeanette; his children, Rachel (Roger Bird), Evan (Marie), and Lydia (David Powicki); his beloved grandchildren, Melissa, Anthony, Grant, and Myles; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will hold a private celebration of life.

Donations can be made in David’s memory to the WHRHS PTO or to your local nature preservation organization.

Memorial guestbook can be found at www.douglassfuneral.com