Peter Ficker was born in Pomster Burgermeister, Coblanz, Germany. He and his extended family emigrated to America in 1860 and settled in Scott County, Minnesota where Peter farmed for four years. He then moved east to the neighboring Dakota County where he held various duties in public office.

In 1875 he and his brother-in-law Mathias Doffing partnered in the Hastings City Brewery on the western shore of Lake Isabel. He had a stake in the business in varying degrees for the next 19 years, ending when the brewery closed in 1893. At this point he returned to being a civil servant.

In 1908 Ficker suffered a series of tragedies in which his wife, son and brother all died within a span of 16 months. At this point, in his late 60s, he headed west to Washington state where he became a gentleman farmer. He may have also had a stake in the Walla Walla brewery, in which Joseph Ficker, a cousin, was working. Ficker's new life was complete when he remarried in 1912, at age 70. Peter Ficker died on his farm on March 2nd, 1916 at age 74.

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