Larry was born Oct. 30, 1936, in West Point to Kermit and Alice (Jahnke) Peterson. He grew up in Cuming County northeast of West Point and was a 1954 graduate of West Point High School. He served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves from Oct. 11, 1958, to Aug. 26, 1964, and was called to active duty during the Berlin Crisis. On April 25, 1961, Larry married JoAnn Kaup and the couple farmed northeast of West Point where they raised their family. He farmed and was employed at IBP for 35 years, retiring in 2001.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church in Oakland and attended the 111th Quarter Master Platoon’s annual reunion.