He was born in Springdale and grew up in Canton. He graduated with honors in 1943 from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant on the USS Washington during World War II.

He was a Catawba County commissioner and Hickory businessman. He was vice president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Asheville and General Manager of the Hickory Bottling Plant. He was a consultant and property appraiser for First Savings and Loan of Hickory, where he also served as chairman of the board. He was a member and past president of the Hickory Rotary Club.

Services were held April 19 at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Hickory.

Survivors include his wife, Ann; three daughters, Sophie Allen of Charlotte, Aimee Peden Burke of Chapel Hill and Elizabeth Tappe of Durham; a son, James G. Peden Jr. of Greenville; a brother, Fred Taylor Peden Jr, of Columbia, S.C.; and 10 grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to the Church of the Ascension or to Catawba County Hospice and Palliative Care.