About Us

Peterson Funeral Services has been serving Des Moines, Carlisle and Indianola area families for years. We are honored to be a part of the rich history of this community and plan to be a part of it for many years to come.

On October 1, 1946 Willard and Georgia Peterson moved from Iowa Falls to Indianola, Iowa and purchased Orr Funeral Home. Willard had previously served his country in the United States Army and worked for a funeral home in Iowa Falls. Willard and Georgia teamed together to operate their new business, Willard as the Funeral Director and Georgia as a Beautician. They raised their family of three children, Jon, Barbro and Norton, in the top two floors of the funeral home which was a necessity. In the days of no cell phones (or even beepers) someone was always next to the business phone. Willard and Georgia operated their funeral home for nearly 50 years until Willard retired from the family business in 1995. Son, Jon Peterson had since graduated from the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science and Jon and Mary Helen (Newsome) purchased Richardson Funeral Home in Carlisle from Marvin and Mary Richardson in 1974 and Arnold's Highland Park Funeral Home, 3500 6th Avenue in Des Moines, from Robert Major in 1991. Jon now oversees all three locations with two of his four sons; James Peterson, licensed since 1991, and Kasey Peterson, licensed since 1995. In April of 2017, Joe Grandstaff joined the Peterson Funeral Home staff. Joe is a licensed pre-planner and is currently working towards his degree in mortuary science. We are proud to be able to say that as of 2016 our family has served our communities for 70 years.