Who is Petersen?
John Petersen is a man with a modest wardrobe. Though the fortune he accumulated as chief executive of Erie Insurance Group could easily buy him the finest in tailored men’s wear, Petersen prefers to “buy things and wear them out and not throw them away because styles change.” His attitude about clothes pretty much sums up the simple lifestyle of Petersen and his wife, Gertrude, both 74 and natives of Erie.