ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 4, 1993                   TAG: 9307040256
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LIBERTY HALL                                LENGTH: Medium

OBIT PETERS, FRANKLIN WOODSON

PETERS, Franklin Woodson, of Liberty Hall, Albemarle County, passed away Friday, July 2, 1993. Mr. Peters was born on March 29, 1920, in Richmond, the son of Sara Lee (Robertson) and Dr. James Sidney Peters. After attending public schools in Richmond, Newport News and Salem, Mr. Peters attended Roanoke College for two years and transferred to Virginia Polytechnic Institute where he received a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in 1940. He had an outstanding academic record and was honored his senior year with an invitation to speak before the American Society of Civil Engineers in New York, and was awarded a prize by the American Concrete Pipe Association. In the fall he entered the University of Virginia School of Law with studies interrupted by World War II. Mr. Peters graduated in 1946, when he again won high academic honors and was Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Law Review, was second in his class and elected to the Raven Society, the Order of the Coif, Phi Alpha Delta and Pi Delta Epsilon. Following graduation, he joined the faculty of the Law School and also served as Legal Secretary to United States Circuit Judge, Armistead Dobie. In December of 1941, Mr. Peters joined the Air Force and served overseas with the rank of Major as a Squadron Executive Officer. Later, he was sent to the Procurement Division at Wright-Patterson Air Base in Dayton, Ohio. He resigned his Commission after the war but maintained a strong and active interest in National Defense. He graduated from the Air Force Technical School, the Command and General Staff School and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was an active member of the Council on Economics and National Security of the National Strategy Information Center in Washington and New York. He obtained a patent on an aircraft which has been recognized for application by the Defense Department. Mr. Peters' legal career included membership of the Bar in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the American Bar Association, as well as the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar and the Alleghany County Bar Association of Pittsburgh. He served at one time on the Board of the Capitol Legal Foundation of Washington and as a Trustee of the Southeastern Legal Foundation in Atlanta. In World War II, he appeared as Defense Counsel in numerous Court Martials and later was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He wrote a number of papers including a book on the Office of Chief Justice of the United States. He was instrumental in effecting a rule change within the Internal Revenue Service permitting tape recorders in audit and examiner hearings. Mr. Peters held very strong views on the threats to freedom by proliferation of the federal bureaucracy and often worked to change and limit the power exercised by the bureaucracy through increased judicial factual review. In his business career, Mr. Peters was active in mining in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He held a license as a registered professional engineer and for nearly forty years, was a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He spent seven years with United States Steel management in charge of 7,000,000 tons annual coal production. He held a license as First Grade Mine Supervisor and was an instructor in safety, licensed by the United States Bureau of Mines. In 1957, he organized the Peters Fuel Corporation which dealt in oil at wholesale levels and also operated coal mines. In 1966, he was awarded the largest reclamation contract given by the Interior Department to eliminate the acid mine drainage affecting the Tygart and Monongahela Rivers. He visited Nigeria and South Africa in connection with oils and synthetic fuels. Mr. Peters was a member of the First Methodist Church and for many years taught a Bible class. He also belonged to the Gideon Society, and frequently spoke on behalf of this ministry. He owned a horse farm and was an avid fox hunter as a member of Keswick, Farmington and Chestnut Ridge Hunt Clubs as well as the Virginia Thoroughbred Association. He was also a member of the Farmington Country Club, the Army & Navy Club, the Capitol Hill Club and the Jamestown Society. He served on the Board of Directors of a number of business and charitable organizations including the Charlottesville Center for Dyslexia, and the Administrative Board of the First Methodist Church. Mr. Peters was a direct descendant of John Woodson who arrived in Jamestown in 1619, and also of Benjamin Harrison who signed the Declaration of Independence. His first marriage to Louise Richardson of Chicago ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, Marian Atwood Peters; and three children, Frank R. Peters of Roanoke, Louise L. Friend of Friendsville, Md., and Irving R. Peters of Burbank, Calif. He was preceded in death by another son, James Sidney Peters. A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 7, 1993, at the First Methodist Church, with the Rev. Byron R. Wilkinson officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Hospice of the Piedmont or the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad. The family will receive friends following the memorial service at the home of Mrs. Franklin W. Peters. 


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