Michael Peterson

Michael “Mike” Weylin Peterson of Billings, MT, passed on Thursday, October 9, 2025, at the age of 66, from Parkinson’s Disease. 

Mike was born in Fort Riley, KS, to John Allen Peterson and Mary Maxine (Draper) Peterson, on December 27, 1958. He and his siblings grew up mostly in KS and the family moved to Billings when he was a teenager. 

Mike married Vicki Lynne Drinkwalter in October 1977 in Billings, and had two daughters, Amber and Jade. He joined the United States Air Force as a Transportation Specialist in 1977 and was first stationed in Minot Air Force Base, ND, then transferred to Mountain Home Air Force Base, ID, where he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1984. 

Mike and his family moved back to Billings after discharge, where he worked as a structural steel fabricator for Roscoe Steel and Agri Systems for 15 years combined. He then spent a few years self-employed as the “Reliable Handyman” before obtaining a teaching degree in elementary and special education from Montana State University Billings, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2003. He spent a few months as a substitute teacher for the Lockwood School District then decided teaching wasn’t for him; he felt too restless always being inside and not doing a physical job. Mike became a mechanic on big rigs and semis, working at both the Billings Truck Center and I-state Truck Center, then finishing his career at Montana Peterbilt when he had to retire on disability due to symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. 

Mike was active in Taekwondo, Judo, and Hapkido from 1990 on. He participated in classes and tournaments, instructed later on, and was a 4th Dan black belt in Taekwondo. Mike’s other hobbies included many outdoor activities to include fishing, canoeing, hiking, camping, backpacking, downhill skiing, snowboarding, and rock hounding, walking his dogs on all the different trails of the Billing’s park system, reading, watching movies, bowling, cards and boardgames, collecting antique candlestick holders, chocolate, and he was an avid listener and supporter of the public radio, his favorite program being Car Talk. He was spiritual and collected and read many books on Taoism and Zen. 

Mike was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease with no cure that affects the brain and motor symptoms, in 2013, at the age of 55. Due to the symptoms, he became less and less able to work, and do the activities and things he loved to do. Along with the long-term effects from a major stroke a few years prior, Mike was no longer able to care for himself and resided in a nursing home for ~1.5 years before his death from Parkinson’s. 

Mike is preceded in death by his parents, John and Maxine Peterson, and his daughter, Amber Peterson. He is survived by his ex-wife Vicki Peterson, his daughter Jade Peterson, and his grandsons Ryan Peterson and Tyler Bach.

In Mike’s Five Wishes booklet, which lists one’s wishes for their medical treatment and their death, when asked “If anyone asks how I want to be remembered, please say the following about me:” he wrote, “I loved life. I loved my wife and kids.”

A memorial service will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at the Huntley Homesteader Hall (760 Railroad Hwy, Huntley, MT 59037) with a luncheon to follow. Mike’s ashes will be spread on the Rims, where he likely took hundreds of walks with his dogs.