John Peterson was many things to the Bismarck Tribune: sports writer, Capitol reporter, editorial page editor, city editor, mentor and friend.

Most of all, he was a newspaperman. He spent nearly 50 years in the business, most of them at the Tribune.

Peterson, 72, died Tuesday in Bismarck.

A native of Wisconsin and a graduate of Luther College in Iowa, Peterson joined the Tribune in 1958 as a reporter. He became sports editor in 1961.

In college, he was involved in wrestling, cross country and track.

In 1964, he was named North Dakota Sportswriter of the Year. He resigned in 1965 and returned to Wisconsin to work in his hometown of Two Rivers.

When he returned to the Tribune in 1970, he was accompanied by his wife of a year, Bethel.

Over the years, he was known as "John Pete" to everyone at the Tribune.

He served as city editor, mentoring reporters and photographers; he did a stint covering the Legislature; and later served as night metro editor.

In 1975, he was inducted into the North Dakota Wrestling Hall of Fame.

When he retired in 1996, he was again serving as city editor.

But he couldn't stay away from the business. He returned on a part-time basis in 1997, helping with special projects, the editorial page and working on the copy desk.

He again retired in the summer of 2008.

During his tenure, he saw the Tribune move from downtown to its location on Front Avenue. The Tribune also went from six days to seven days, and then changed from an afternoon to morning paper.

Throughout this time, he remained a constant at the paper.

Former Tribune Editor Dave Bundy offered this remembrance of Peterson:

"An editor can't care what everyone thinks about him. There are too many people with too many conflicting and competing complaints. But you pick a few people, and you really care what they think about you. John Pete was one of those people. I wanted to make him proud. As proud as I was to count him a friend."

Peterson is survived by his wife, Bethel; a daughter, Karleen; a son, Kyle; and four grandchildren.

Services are pending.