Br. Leonard James

James Charles Peterson was born in St. Paul, on June 11, 1944, the son of James Wendel and Bernice Helen Wegner Peterson. James graduated Holy Spirit School and entered Cretin High School in 1958. On June 12, 1962, he entered the novitiate, receiving the habit and religious name of Brother Leonard James on August 30, 1962. Brother Leonard pursued his studies at St. Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, earning his B.A. in 1966. His first teaching assignment was from 1966 to 1968 at Xavier High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he taught physics and religion. He was assigned to De La Salle in Minneapolis from 1971-1973 and in 1973 was assigned to teach at Grace High School in Fridley, Minnesota. He returned to De La Salle in 1974 but became ill in September and after a short illness he died at Unity Hospital in his home town of Fridley. He was thirty-one years old and had been a De La Salle Christian Brother for thirteen years.