Goodbye Dad

Jim (eldest son - 1st son)

I am sitting on my front porch in brisbane australia admiring the greenery,enduring the heat and thinking of my father.

 Accidents of fate and geography kept us apart for the latter part of his life which i will ever regret. But when he and could still travel, he used to love to come to australia. When i was trying unsuccessfully to become an orchardist he loved helping me out, picking the fruit, packing the fruit and eating the fruit. He didnt care if we made any money. He loved being busy and doing something useful.

 This was one of the excellent character traits i inherited from him. I love being busy and doing something useful. When it became clear that i was never going to be a successful orchardist i took up art -sculpture a little more successfully.  One of the lines of work i developed was sculpting fish, insects, reptiles and so forth out of computer trash. Once again dad was my willing collaborator. Our most ambitious project was a two metre long crocodile stomping through the bush. I couldnt get the legs right and fell into my usual problem solving strategy which was swearing a lot.

 But dad said no lets to figure this out. That was another of dads most endearing traits. Lets figure this out. So i pretended to be a two metre crocodile made of circuit boards and we got it right. Thanks dad. 

One thing we never shared was a love of sport. Dad loved his sport. And i did not. When he first came to oz he spent hours watching aussie rules football on tv and asking me why did they this or why did they do that and i would have to shake my head and say i dont know. 

Sorry dad. There are so many wonderful traits i got from my father that i cant list them all. But they are part of me. Thanks dad. 

Ann (youngest)

Dad, my papa this I consciously made a pact with myself i would be here every day during your waking times, because I knew you were  going to pass away and I wanted to say to myself that I had you, to myself.  That you would never be alone. Im so glad I did that.  You always said to sandy to manu while I cant do much for her i can put her feet up and down and change the tv channel.  Give her water. 

But he really enjoyed our evenings together while sandy and manu spent time with their family.  My whole life I have done everything I could for you to be proud of me.  And you were.  

My first memories of my life of you was when I was in our bathroom in Arizona and I was two years old and locked myself in the bathroom and an ant was crawling around and you had to take the door down to get me out.  Then you hugged me.

My second memory was I remember sitting on your lap while you took out splinters in our quonset hut in England.  And my crying and crying while it didn't hurt at all but I thought it was going to. 

You were the biggest example of human kindness I have ever known. You never had a bad word to say about anyone except maybe my two husbands.  That still makes me laugh.

When we lived off base at Otis Ir Force Base, there was an enormous tree that fell down in our back yard during a storm and you told me not to play on it and then you left for work.  I went right out and got on that tree, and you drove around the blovk and came back and caught me.  I didn't get a hug that time.

Dad I love you so much and I'm going to miss you like crazy and I know I am going to see you and Mom soon.

Molly (grandfather)

Sigh, Grandpa has moved on to that peaceful place... with his family around him and all of us far away releasing him and letting him know he gave us the strength to continue on without him. We are strong. It will be OK. Love

Me (dale)

So long ago I ... I saw a photograph of the tiny farm house in which my father was raised.  The house was some distance from the town of Gunnison, Utah where he was born.  And at that time Gunnison was many miles from anywhere else.

LaMar Clarence Peterson was born there in 1919.  I never knew him as Lamar.  He was always Dad to me and my sister Ann and brother Jim.  My mother Maralene Henry Peterson, called him Pete.  And everyone else called him Col. Peterson during those years.

Dad was a big man.  Six foot and very strong.  He seemed to generate respect from everyone around him just standing where he was.  There never was any doubt he was a leader and not a great deal of nonsense was tolerated.

With his family he was the great oak.  The protector, the rock always always always right there with a gentle hand and a kind word.  His family and friends knew he had an amazing sense of humor.  A good joke or some family anecdote and he could laugh until tears ran down his cheeks.  Big belly laughs.  

During his wartime service he was awarded several of our countries highest medals for valor.  The silver star, the bronze star, several oak clusters among many others.  Later he was among the first Air Force crews, maybe the first flight crews of any kind, to fly through the eye of hurricanes to gain scientific data for purposes of military air support defense.

He and his brother Gene spent some years sleeping outside in a three walled farm shed because two more brother and sisters came along and filled that tiny farmhouse to overflowing.  Growing up there in an LDS farming family and LDS community he learned to work hard from his earliest days.  And when he overcame that poverty with two years at Utah State University and gaining a commission in the Air Force he still never forgot his roots and a deep respect of his heritage and extended family.

At every opportunity as a family of five, we all always came home to Utah.

The time he spent in the service took him, mother and his three children all over the world.  He and mother made sure everywhere we went we saw every natural wonder, every museum, palace, castle.  We were never left behind, including many car trips cross country from New England to Utah ... Before the interstates were built ... Through every small town and major city on the route.  Trips that took a week or more ... Three very active kids with everything we needed ... No car air conditioning ... 

Talk about love and patience ... Occasionally he threatened severe discipline, which we truly truly deserved, believe me ... But he never did more than that, then again as i have said, he had that presence where he didn't have to.

Dad walked the walk.  He was devoted to his family, he was always a gentleman, he was sincere, honest, patriotic and always in some form of community service from the Rotary club to the moose lodge.  

We love you Dad, we will miss you, but we also know that you are and will be forever with us.

Crystal   Branch. (Grandaughter)

Grandpa passed away tonight. He was my hero and I will miss him like crazy. I will imagine he walked through the gates, shook his fathers hand, hugged his mother and danced into forever with his bride. Rest in Peace Grandpa I love you.