Terry Peterson
1959-10-16 2009-04-09Terry Dean Peterson Jr., 49, passed away peacefully early Thursday morning, April 9, 2009, surrounded by family and friends after a long, courageous battle with cancer.
Funeral services for Terry were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, April 14, 2009, at our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1310 Main Street, Eau Claire. Pastor Gary Sahs officiated. Burial was in Rest Haven Cemetery in the town of Washington immediately following services. Military honors were conducted by American Legion Post #53. Friends called at Fuller Speckien Hulke Funeral Home Monday evening from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and at the church Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. until the time of services.
Terry was born Oct. 16, 1959, in Black River Falls to Terry and Harriet (Schafer) Peterson. In 1966 the family settled in Eau Claire, where Terry graduated from Memorial High School in 1977. Following high school, he joined the United States navy and was stationed in Naples, Italy.
Upon discharge from the Navy, Terry worked as a lender for Commercial State Bank in St. Paul until returning to school in 1985. He graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1989 with a BBA in accounting. Upon graduation Terry successfully completed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. Terry immediately went to work as an auditor for Arthur Andersen, LLP, in Milwaukee, until joining the Miller brewing family in 1991. Terry held many positions with Miller including accounting manager, brewery accounting manager and controller for Southwestern US Sales. Terry’s tenure with Miller brewing took him to Milwaukee, North Carolina and Texas. In 2003, Terry left Miller to return to his family in Eau Claire and accepted the position of executive director of the LE Phillips Career Development Center. In March of 2008, Terry reached his pinnacle career goal of becoming the chief financial officer with National Presto Industries. He loved his position and was devastated when he was diagnosed with advanced cancer in May of 2008 and, due to his treatments, was no longer able to fulfill his responsibilities, and, therefore, stepped down.
Terry married the love of his life, Kelly (Colleen) Smith Aug. 22, 1987. They share three beautiful children, Taylor Dean, 17 years old, Connor Douglas, 14 years old, and Kacie Grace, 12 years old.
Terry was an avid and devoted Packer, Badger and Brewer fan, and he and Kelly shared many a game together. He would name off the historical statistics of all his teams at the drop of a hat. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his family and children. His passion was basketball, and he took pleasure in coaching his sons and daughter and watching them play. His family and friends will miss Terry’s wisdom, sense of humor, compassion and joy of life. He was a true friend to many and always ready to lend a helping hand.
Terry is survived by his wife, Kelly; and three children, Taylor, Connor and Kacie; four siblings, DeeAnne Peterson-Meyer (Terry) of Altoona, Julie Scott (Robert) of Eleva, Joel Peterson (Jeanell) of Eau Claire and Heidi Edison (Christopher) of Eau Claire; father-and-mother-in-law, Doug and Joan Smith of Eau Claire; brother-in-law, Craig Smith (Patti) of Eau Claire; and many special friends and extended family members.
Terry was preceded in death by his mother, Harriet Peterson in 2001, and father, Terry D. Peterson Sr. in 2004.
Terry’s family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Dr. Dean Del Mastro. He took Terry under his wing and cared for him with all his heart. Also, Barb, Nan, Beth, Danielle, Ariela and Nancy, the unbelievable nurses at Marshfield Cancer Center and the rest of the support staff your kindness will always be remembered.
Hopefully, we all remember when we learned to type. For me, it was 8th grade at Central Junior High. I loved that school, with the high ceilings and the big windows. Many of us had Mr. Howard. I believe there was a woman typing teacher, but her name escapes me. That's who Terry and I had for our instructor. Nonetheless, we had typing in that third floor room that faced the park near the main stairwell. The desks were situated as four rows, two rows each side of the room, with a wide walkway down the middle of the room. Set up in that way made for each person to have a partner to sit near and to check each other's work. Terry was my typing partner. We learned how to type by looking at those books on the easel-like book holder thingies like this: fjf fjf fjf, dkd dkd dkd, sls sls sls and so on to get used the layout of the keyboard. And we couldn't look at our fingers either. It wasn't too long and we were typing words with letters from not in the 'home row'! And they were words! And from words we were typing sentences. And from sentences to paragraphs. Wow...we were really getting good. Then there were the timings we were given to see what our 'WPM' would be...count the words we typed in one minute, and count the mispelled words and I remember the best I could do in the end was 68 wpm. The reason I set all this up is because of Terry. We were given a timing one particular class, so for one entire minute we had to type to beat the band with out typing any mispelled words. The typewriters were just a-tappin' away, all of them, and they were electric but the typewriters that you had to return the carriage, too! Part way through the timing, Terry must have screwed up badly and was so frustrated he gave up, and reached over and flipped my book on that little easel shut! Needless to say, we both did poorly on the timing, but Terry and I had a great laugh together that day. That's a silly thing to remember.
tribute by Karolyn ZuehlkeTerry was a loyal friend and I valued his friendship. He was that friend you could always count on for whatever you needed. I was honored to be a groomsman in his wedding and blessed to have him in mine.
tribute by Bob Branson