Petronia was born on 14 December 1916 on plantation Santa Lucia near Plantersrust in Curaçao[1][2] which is nowadays part of Willemstad.

[1] In 1951, Petronia was first elected to the island council of Aruba for the Aruban Patriotic Party (PPA).

For a brief period, Petronia had five portfolios when Oscar Henriquez [nl] was appointed lieutenant governor of Aruba.

[1] Even though Petronia had been a Papiamentu author, he would encourage the use of Dutch as Minister of Education in order to increase opportunities for the Antilles.

Petronia was of the opinion that the islands needed several years of stability, however he doubted whether it could be achieved during his term.