Obituary of Howard Munson Peterson

Reverend Howard Munson Peterson quietly passed away on March 29, 2016, at St. Peter Hospital, after a brief illness. Howard was born on March 25, 1921 in Vancouver, Washington to Fred and Hilda Peterson. He was preceded in death by his wife, Grace Peterson. Howard was a World War II veteran, stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was reminiscing about those days with his daughter, Susan, son-in-law, Steve, and his nurses at St. Peter's just prior to his death. Upon leaving the navy, he worked for the US Postal Service, then one Sunday morning, when attending church at Memorial Lutheran, Vancouver, Washington, he felt the Lord directing him to become a Lutheran minister. He terminated his employment with the postal service and enrolled at Concordia College, Portland, Oregon for four years. Upon completion of that education, he then packed up his family and drove cross country to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, to complete his requirements for the ministry. His first "official" parish was Peace Lutheran, Salem, Oregon. Throughout his ministry he also served various parishes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The number of people he reached throughout his ministry was endless and he even continued until the day he died. He retired from the ministry in 2010. Howard was in the middle of writing his life story, with the intent of leaving it for both friends and family to enjoy. The stories read thus far are amazing. He truly was loved by all. Golf was his favorite hobby, with his serving as "sheriff" at the Black Butte golf course in Sisters, Oregon, when he was in his early retirement. He often challenged his sons to try and beat his score. He finally had to hang up his clubs at the age of 94. Howard is survived by his children, Bill (Mary), Susan (Steve), Greg (Georgia), Bryan, Paul, Jim (Amy), 14 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, as well as his brother Reuben and sister Joanne. A celebration of life service will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, 7075 Pacific Avenue, Lacey, Washington on Sunday, May 1st at 3:00pm. Memorial donations may be made to Faith Lutheran Church school.