Paul Peterson's Obituary
Paul Peterson entered the presence of his Lord Jesus on January 16, 2024, at age 94. Paul was born in Chicago on December 20, 1929, to his parents Oscar and Alice. Paul lived then for 34,360 days (a statistic that Paul liked to keep!). A few years later after Paul’s birth, his brother Will joined the family. Paul lived a full and joyful life with many different interests. One of his greatest interests and delights was in his family.
On September 27, 1958, Paul married Lee Anderson. They shared nearly 15 years together in marriage. Paul and Lee shared a love for music and travel. They enjoyed climbing Grand Teton Mountain in Wyoming in 1959 while Lee was pregnant with their first son David. Shortly after their second son Glenn was born in 1963, Paul and Lee moved from Chicago to New Jersey when Paul got a promotion with the Stauffer Chemical Company.
After moving to New Jersey, Paul and Lee joined the Montclair Chorale, a chorus that did many of the works of the great composers. Their third son Craig was born in New Jersey in 1965. While they lived on the East Coast, they still made annual summer trips to the family cottage on Bass Lake in Indiana where the family swam, and water skied. Paul and Lee also made annual trips in the fall to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. Paul told his sons that they could each take a trip to wherever they wanted to go to celebrate their 12th birthdays. Dave chose to go with his dad down the Colorado River on a rafting trip. Glenn chose to see California. And Craig chose to visit the Southeast. Paul loved to travel, and he shared his love of travel with his wife and boys.
The family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1972, when Paul’s company moved their headquarters near there. In April 1973 Paul’s wife Lee died suddenly. Later that summer Paul dropped off his sons at their grandmother’s home in Pentwater, Michigan. In Michigan, Paul renewed a relationship with Carolyn Friske, a second cousin to Lee. In God’s providence, Paul and Carolyn were married on May 18, 1974.
Paul and Carolyn also loved to travel. They took a cruise to Bermuda in September after they were married. They traveled to several business conventions together that were held at various resorts around the country. Later, after retirement, Paul and Carolyn would travel to around 60 different countries including most of Europe, the Scandinavian countries, Israel, and Australia and New Zealand. Paul then had a chance to see the countries of the various postage stamps he had collected throughout his life. They also enjoyed time together every fall for 30 years at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina at a timeshare.
Paul also was blessed by Carolyn’s cooking skills and by her love for hosting people in their home. Many meals were shared with strangers who became friends at their table. Many of those strangers who ate at Paul and Carolyn’s house were from Black Rock Congregational Church of Fairfield, Connecticut. Paul and Carolyn were members at the church for almost 30 years. They sang in the choir together. Paul was an elder at the church for many years and enjoyed taking mission trips as a member of the mission committee with the church to countries all over the world. Paul also taught a class for seekers for 14 years which was later called the Discovery class, and he and Carolyn enjoyed hosting many of these people in their home. Many of the people in the class accepted Christ. Paul also was used to help plant a new church in Danbury, Connecticut, that has grown significantly from its beginnings in a hotel. Paul’s love for Jesus was seen in how he loved to serve within Christ’s church.
One interest of Paul’s that Carolyn did not share was his love for sports. Paul loved all the teams from Chicago, the Bears, the Bulls, the Blackhawks and – especially – the Cubs. He was never so happy as when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. Paul loved seeing his son David succeed in cross country and track and field. And Paul enjoyed playing tennis and was a big fan of the U.S. Open Tennis tournament that he attended each year in September.
In the last 23 years of his life, Paul and Carolyn lived at Shell Point in Fort Myers, Florida. In their condo, Paul enjoyed playing his classical music and watching some of his favorite movies. He shared his love for music and movies with some of the other residents of Shell Point on Sunday afternoons. Paul also continued to enjoy serving the Lord at various churches in Fort Myers. Finally, Paul enjoyed reading many history books in his retirement – especially books about the history of World War II. And in his retirement, Paul even wrote a book. He wrote his autobiography called “Pop’s Story” that was published in 2010.
Paul is survived by his loving wife Carolyn, his oldest son David and his wife Linda and their children Matthew, Daniel and Stephanie and Matthew’s wife Kaitlin, his second son Glenn and his wife Wendy and their children Joshua and Andrew, and his third son Craig and his wife Laura and their children, Anders and Matthias.
A Memorial Service for Paul will be held on Friday, February 16, at 10 AM at the Village Church at Shell Point in Fort Myers, Florida.
For those who were unable to attend, please follow the link below to the recorded service for Paul.
https://iplayerhd.com/player/video/0b396e04-dfef-4bac-9ac3-d1e1b5e474e1/share
Donations in Paul’s memory can be sent to either the Great Commission Fund of the Christian and Missionary Alliance/One Alliance Place/Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 or to MedSend/1838 Gold Hill Road/Fort Mill, SC 29708.
Final arrangements have been entrusted to Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, 1589 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33907.
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