Hugh Eberhardt Petersen ’40

"Civic leader poured heart, soul into Santa Barbara," "man of the decade," and "consummate gentleman" were among phrases used in a page-one article about Hugh in the Santa Barbara News Press upon his death May 31, 2003. He had been ill for several years.

Hugh prepared at Southern Arizona School and New Trier in Chicago before entering Princeton. He majored in economics and graduated with honors. He was on the freshman polo team and varsity crew, was business manager of the Bric-a-Brac, and a member of Quadrangle Club.

For the next 25 years he was engaged in the family businesses of coal and hotels in Chicago. During this time he attended Northwestern Law School and earned a master's in business from the U. of Chicago. He became director of the Chicago Better Business Bureau, a trustee of George Williams College, and served on the YMCA of Chicago board.

In 1968 he married Marjorie Stone — "the best thing I've ever done" — liquidated the family business, and moved to Santa Barbara, where he bought La Arcada Investment Corp. It was his farsighted and civic-minded development of his properties that evoked the widespread praise quoted above. Hugh was active in Princeton clubs where he lived.

To his wife, Marjorie, and his nieces and nephews, his classmates extend their deep sympathies.

The Class of 1940