St. Charles resident celebrates historic milestone

St. Charles resident Melvin Peterson – who has been described as a walking, talking history book of St. Charles – himself made history on Friday when he turned 100.

Peterson is a resident at the River Glen of St. Charles, which is housed in the former Delnor Hospital. As the longtime owner of the Wasco Blacksmith Shop, Peterson built the ornamental railings on the campus.

“They are still standing all these years later, just like you,” said River Glen Executive Director Kristin Landahl to Peterson while celebrating his birthday with the other residents at River Glen.

He is happy that at age 100, he remains in good health.

“It’s nice to have good health and be able to be with friends and visit with everybody,” Peterson said. “I had a physical yesterday and everything’s right where it’s supposed to be.”

Landahl also took note of the fact that Peterson is in such good health.

“He walks great and he’s in great shape,” she said. “To know that you can look and be like that when you turn 100, that’s pretty awesome.”

There are many examples of Peterson’s name showing up in historic references. According to the St. Charles History Museum, Peterson and his family were the last of the farmers who worked for Col. Edward Baker at Airport Farm, which was developed into the now closed Pheasant Run Resort.

Baker, a local philanthropist, built the Hotel Baker and helped fund other buildings in the city, including the Baker Community Center and the St. Charles Municipal Building.

Peterson has always had a giving spirit, including being a longtime usher at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Charles and spending many hours in his blacksmith shop cleaning and repairing the historic 2,500-pound bell in front of the St. Charles History Museum.

His son, Tom Peterson, said his father has outlived everyone in his family tree.

“There’s a lot of longevity on his side of the family, but I think he’s now three years past anybody else in the family,” he said.

Peterson said his dad taught him the value of hard work.

“He taught me that nothing gets done easily and if it’s not going well, you have to work harder at it,” said the 70-year-old Peterson, who is a CPA. “You just have to keep working at it until you can get it done. And to this day, I’m a workaholic. And much of that would come from the fact that he was.”