There are multiple well known people in history who have stated “that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Every person in Leelanau County is a living biography of the world around us that changes each other in small and big ways.
On January 17, Leelanau County lost a powerful biography and potentially the last tie to our World War II veterans in the region.
World War II veteran, Peter Simon, was celebrated this month by his friend, Chet Janik, and his daughters, Kristel Wiesner and Sonja Robertson, in a special interview with the Leelanau Enterprise at Peter’s home in the Timberlee Property Owner’s Association area. *** Growing up as the youngest son of a World War I veteran, Peter Simon earned great respect for the military. His daughter’s remember stories of Simon waving to Civil War Veterans marching in the Saginaw Fourth of July Parade when he was a boy.
After graduating high school, Simon anticipated the draft and joined the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program through his local YMCA. He enjoyed his classes in flight training, leadership, fitness, character building, meteorology, map reading, and compass skills. When the time came for Peter to serve his country, he wanted to enter the military with skills that would be helpful to his unit.
At 18 years old, he was drafted in September 1944 and became a supply clerk for the Tenth United States Army in the Pacific region and traveled to his first duty station on the island of Okinawa. He quickly transitioned from being a supply clerk to leading convoys through the jungle as a result of the skills he had acquired in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program.
As a map reader, understanding the topography of the jungle was crucial to finding the safest route from point A to B without encountering the opposition. There were times, however, he and his troops came under enemy fire.
War requires forethought and strength of character to truly understand that life and death are the result of decisions made by others. The war changed him, as war does for many veterans, but in a way that some may be surprised. Instead of becoming cold and calloused, he became acutely aware of humanity and the sanctity of life. Simon was 18-years-old when he was charged with taking and guarding prisoners of war. He realized the enemy prisoners were men with stories and qualities that were similar to him and how the prisoners he guarded were not the enemy. The real enemy, to Simon, was the ideology of the opposition forces whose disregard for human life and freedom led to the killing of innocent people. He was saddened by those lost in the war but was significantly affected by the toll this war had on the Japanese children. This toll taught Simon how sacred life was for the rest of his life.
After the war, Peter enrolled at the Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston and returned to Michigan to start his new career and life.
Simon married “the girl from church,” Carol Moeller, in 1953 and started a family. They adopted a son, Eric, and later had two more children, both daughters.
In 1970, Simon built a house in the Timberlee Ski Resort development. This led to free family ski passes in exchange for Peter repairing the chairlift when it broke down, leaving another big piece of his legacy in this county.
In the 1980s, TimberLee had financial issues and sold off land set aside as community land for the use and enjoyment of residents who lived in the Timberlee development. When TimberLee went bankrupt, the development residents were at risk of losing access to amenities promised to them in their land purchase in the TimberLee development. Peter led the charge to establish a property owner’s association to acquire TimberLee’s Lake Leelanau footage, beach house, tennis courts, and a parcel of park land. To honor his efforts, the TimberLee Beach House was renamed the Peter Simon Beach House. Not only did Peter impact the county around him, but he also impacted all of northern Michigan. He was a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, serving on its Outdoor Environment Lighting Committee. His love and respect for the natural world made him a pioneer in the Dark Sky Initiative in the mid ‘80s, which aimed at restoring and protecting the nighttime environment from the harmful effects of light pollution. His efforts helped educate northern Michigan architects and developers on ways to reduce the light pollution around us, which led to substantial environmental protection across northern Michigan.
There are several more outstanding achievements and accomplishments that can be found about Peter online and through his obituary, but there are several more not known that Chet, Kristel, and Sonja hold more dear.
They will always remember how Peter was wise, kind, and a gentle soul. He always had a smile, a dream, and would use his resourcefulness and creativity to help people from all walks of life who trusted him and his hard work. The amount Peter cared for those around him, using respect and dignity in everything he did, was remembered by everyone around him. Peter was an optimist, even to the day of his passing. Immediate family members recall how, just twelve days before his passing, he was lying in bed smiling as he said, “I am just thinking about how wonderful everything is.”
Peter wasn’t much of a cook, but he was known for his hospitality, which often included a root beer float. Three days prior to Peter’s passing, his friends and family gathered around his bed for a root beer float party. Family and friends were the most important things to Peter, which has been passed down to his children as important values.
Along with the pictures of his family that he carried in his wallet, Peter also carried a small paper cut from a church bulletin displaying 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13. He was not a man of many words, but believed in expressing love through action. At family meals, he would sometimes explain that, “Love is a verb.”
Peter told his family that every age is a new experience, requiring the ability to change and adapt to whatever the circumstances.
Even though how we conduct war has changed, the people, the brave warriors, who fight in these wars do not. These warriors, at their core, are still people with unique lives, experiences, needs, and pursuits to make the world around them a better place. Peter embodied this and took full advantage of the wild adventure we call life, leaving the world in a better place than he found.
Time waits for no one, and the living history around us is starting to fully disappear into the textbooks. Before these stories are only found in the printed forum, connect with those around you and help preserve history.
Peter Simon seen during a hot day with his shirt off in a military fatigue. Courtesy photo
