Henry Drake Petersen was born in Amityville, Long Island, New York, on August 31, 1946. He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on October 17, 2012. He never married or had children.
Petersen was educated in the Amityville public school system, graduating from Amityville Memorial High School in 1964. He then enrolled in Long Island University's Richard L. Conolly College in Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, earning his B.A. with honours in history in October 1968.
While at Long Island University, Petersen was on the Dean's List and a member of Phi Alpha Theta national history honour society. He had a tuition scholarship and a New York State Regents scholarship. He worked as a residence hall counselor and university tutor. His extracurricular activities included All-University Chorus, which sang at the New York World's Fair in-fall 1964; L.I.U. Theatre, where he was stage manager and costume designer; Student Orientation Committee; Forum Linguae; International Student Association; Inter-Faith Council; and the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius.
In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, Petersen, age 23, left the United States and went to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he had family connections through his mother, whose sister, Alida Wicks, had moved from New York to Cape Breton with her husband in 1964.
Not long after coming to Halifax, a friend invited him to dinner at King's College, which so impressed Petersen that he applied for a donship. From September 1970 to September 1971, he was Don of Middle Bay at the University of King's College, and from September 1971 to June 1972, he was Don of North Pole Bay. While serving as Don, he participated in student groups, including the Quintilian Debating Society, the Haliburton Literary Society, and the King's Dramatic and Choral Society.
