Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

[Craig L Barry]

Very sad news...

C. Peter Jorgensen, Editor, Civil War News

C. Peter Jorgensen of Tunbridge died Sept. 25, 2009 of cancer at age 68. His
funeral will be Saturday, Oct. 3, at noon at the Tunbridge Church followed
by a burial service and "Pete's Party", both at his Monarch Hill Road home, to
which all are invited.

The committal ceremony will be reminiscent of the annual Tunbridge Memorial
Day service in which Jorgensen participated until this year. It will include
music by the Constitution Brass Quintet, firing squad, the release of white
doves and cannons fired by the Vermont Civil War Hemlocks.

[Marine Mike]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

Always enjoyed his editorials in Artilleryman.
He will be missed.

Mike Stein

[rogue]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

Craig,
Thank you for posting this.
Pete was a pioneer in artillery, publication and preservation.
Another old timer going west.
S.Sullivan

[billwatson]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

He was a pioneer, in terms of thinking there was enough interest in the Civil War to generate a "general interest" monthly paper, not narrowly focused on scholarly history or reenacting or commemoration or preservation but all of it put together, with an eye for the socializing aspect of it among ourselves. Always fun to see other folks and how they've presented themselves to the photographers, every edition.

There's no doubt the publication can continue, it's in extremely capable hands. And the switch to a new printer in the last year or so has tremendously improved the quality of the images and given a lot more pages available for color photography.

He's going to be missed. His was one of the calmer voices, matched to a clear vision of what he was doing and its value to everyone. IMHO calm and clear gets it done.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

As I posted on the other forum, I previously spoke with Kay Jorgensen about that (the future of CW News) some time ago, as obviously with terminal cancer Pete knew he had a limited time among us, but he knew it for a long enough time to put all his affairs in order, which is something he considered a blessing. Pete actually thought it was a great gift to have enough time to to sell off his muskets and other firearms so he knew where they went and who had them. "Wouldn't it be awful," Pete said, "to leave this world without getting your muskets placed in the right hands?" I could not agree more--he actually made it about six months longer than the medical community estimated. Kay said she was not aware that Pete had that many Civil War guns...reminds me of a Todd Watts story where his insurance agent asked how many guns he had and Todd replied "...You know, I'll say about fifty, but I'm not really sure where they all are." Pete was kind of like that.

Those of us who had the privilege to know Pete are not surprised to learn that he had it all planned out down to the smallest details...in fact, he had his own funeral all planned out. It is planned for the same time as the N-SSA Fall Nationals to which he reportedly said, "All things considered, I'd rather be at the Nationals." Kay plans to keep on trucking and publishing CW News 10x a year for the foreseeable future. Honestly, given the pressure she has been under, I thought the October issue was excellent, very strong content. Point being, Kay J. can run Civil War News on her own w/ the writers and staff that they have. The hobby needs quality publications like Civil War News. I plan to be a regular contributor.

[Marc]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

Very sorry to hear of Peter's death. I have always enjoyed the Artilleryman magazine and his editorial. Hopefully, the Artilleryman will continue to be published.

[PetePaolillo]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

I don't know if many in the civil war community know this or not..but Pete was a huge contributor to the FireService Industry as well.
FIRE SERVICE EQUIPMENT AND APPARATUS ICON PASSES

We are deeply saddened to report the passing of C. Peter "Pete" Jorgensen, Publisher and Editor of Fire Apparatus and Equipment Magazine. http://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/

Pete died comfortably at his home in Vermont the night of Saturday, September 26th.

Among his many contributions to the fire and emergency services industry, Pete also served on the FEMSA Board of Directors from 1998 through 2001.

Pete was never ever shy to "tell it like it is" when it came to his passion: fire apparatus and equipment and the related fire business industry. Few Firefighters that we know of didn't enjoy it when that large style "FIRE APPARATUS MAGAZINE arrived! I know personally, I always go to Pete's column first to see what the latest was-and what his opinion on "it" was. Without a doubt, Pete and his magazine made a huge difference to not only the business side, but to those he felt were his real customers, the FIREFIGHTERS who purchased and operated the equipment he passionately wrote about.

Additional details will be provided as they become available. Please keep Pete's wife, Kay, his family, and his colleagues at the magazine in your thoughts and prayers.

We appreciate the notification from the folks at FAMA. http://www.fama.org/

Rest in Peace Pete.

BillyG

The Secret List 9-27-09 / 2238 hours

https://www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Civil War News Editor Loses Battle with Cancer

Last I heard "Artilleryman" magazine is staying the course. It is a quarterly and there are a couple articles on artillery events and the STRI artillery (from me) that are pending publication there. Pete was a giant in Civil War publishing, he will be greatly missed.