Lawrence Thomas Peterson

life story

Loving Father, Grandfather and Brother

Larry Peterson was born on April 21, 1942 in Minneapolis Minnesota as the second of 6 children to Lawrence (Pete) and Louise (Lou) Peterson. He grew up in a typical neighborhood in South Minneapolis working at his father’s service station and going to church and school. In high school he met Judy Barker They were married in 1960 and had 4 children: Chris, Lynn, Mary and Bettina. Larry’s first career was as an auto mechanic. At an early age, in 1964, the family moved out to Lake Elsinore California to look for fairer weather and an exciting new place to live. This lasted a few years and they moved back to Minnesota for one year. Then they returned to California to raise their kids and be near family.

Later, Larry and his family relocated to Hemet California where the Peterson family planted roots and went to work, church, school and family get-togethers. Larry left the career of being an auto mechanic and moved into heating and air conditioning. In 1978 Larry and Judy divorced. Larry was married to L. Lynn Kuhns from 1979-1985. He formed a business partnership with Marvin Fenner and opened Sunrise Heating and Air. At age 65 Larry retired and stayed in Hemet until 2019 when he decided he wanted to live with family and moved in with Tina's family in Minnesota. Here he spent the last three years of his life and went to be with the Lord on August 1, 2022. He is preceded in death by his parents Pete and Louise Peterson, his oldest sister Carol Hill, his younger brother Timothy Peterson, and his daughters Lynette Peterson and Mary Peterson. He is survived by his children Chris Peterson (Susan) and Bettina Graffunder (Tom), his grandchildren Becca Straus (Alex), Daniel Peterson, Holly Janik (Michael), Spencer Graffunder, Dmitry Graffunder, Sasha Graffunder, Benjamin Miles, Mick Miles and Krysta Chavers, and his Great Grandchildren Hazel and Emmett Straus. He is also survived by his brothers Terry Peterson (Diane) and Ken Peterson (Debbie) and his sister Elaine Bruce, as well as many other family members not individually named here.

His final resting place will be the ossuary at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. The family asks that in lieu of flowers please consider giving to Alzheimer’s Association at http://alz.org and click the donate button on the upper right corner or donate to The Blue Chair Fund- Larry's Chair

memorial service

Memorial Service at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, MN

September 16, 2022

Berean Baptist Church - Burnsville Campus 309 County Rd 42 E, Burnsville, MN 55306, USA

https://www.bereanmn.com/

Visitation 1/2 hour prior to service

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Resurrection Cemetery

Eulogy From Chris Peterson (son)

Thank you all for coming today to the Memorial Service of my Father Larry Peterson. I would like to take a few minutes to share with you some of my favorite thoughts and memories of my Dad.

Dad was always busy doing something when I was growing up. Mostly working every weekday and then fixing things or working on projects on the weekends. That is, when we weren’t driving into Glendale to visit with the Corran’s and the Hills or driving to Lake Elsinore to visit Mom’s side of the family, the Barkers, the Holmgrens or the Randalls. Dad worked hard so Mom was able to stay at home and raise her 4 kids.

Family was very important to Dad and that is why we frequently met with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. Many summers we would also drive to Minnesota to visit with Dad’s side of the family who lived in Minneapolis.

Our nuclear family of Mom (Judy) hi Mom, Dad, Me, Lynn, Mary and Tina had dinner every night at the dinner table except if there was a rare school event. We used to have fun sharing our day and many times someone started joking around (normally Dad) and we would all have trouble eating because we were all laughing so much.

Dad taught me a few things that stick with me to this day. One is taking care of things around the house like a washer or dryer that needed fixing or a room that needed painting or a broken car that needed fixing. He used to always tell me that he could fix anything or solve any problem that came his way. That inspired me to have the same attitude about life.

Dad liked to support our activities too and one thing I remember fondly is that he took me to my annual backpacking trips in high school. Reflecting back on his younger days, Dad told me stories of him growing up as well. One story is how he played hookie for a trip up north to go hunting when he was 15 and didn’t yet have a driver’s license. His friends piled into a car and lit up some cigarettes and they took off on a hunting trip and got a deer and came home some time later. I never did hear how much trouble he got into from his mother!

Another story was how much he loved to ice skate and that he was a pretty good speed skater. He insisted on keeping his ice skates up until his passing as he was very fond of those “speed Skates.” Another few stories are related to cool motorized vehicles he owned. Just after getting married he had a nice ski boat and used to invite friends and family out to ski with him on Lake Calhoun or Lake Harriet. After he got married, he had a nice Honda motorcycle that he let me ride with him on a few times. We also had a nice pickup and a camper and we took it down to San Felipe to enjoy some sun, sand surf and Corbina fishing. Uncles and Aunts used to join us and there were many good memories made. Later, we made friends with the Stanton’s who used to like to go dune buggying at Glamis. Dad bought a nice dune buggy and we had a blast getting sand everywhere! One of my favorite vehicles was a Triumph TR4 that he bought that needed body work and engine work. Dad did it all in his garage.

One day I wanted to buy a car and I bought a baja bug which is a Volkswagen bug that had been fitted to go off road. I loved that car but one day I was in a hurry to get to a job interview and I rolled the car into a tree in someone’s front yard. Dad offered to help me rebuild it by helping me get a new body and then putting the old engine and transmission in the new off road fitted body. It took him about 6 months (with my help) to get it back in shape and then I was back on the road. Dad this those things for me.

Music was a big part of our family life and Dad used to like to play his Gibson guitar that he bought in Riverside California when I was just a wee lad. Some of his favorite songs to play were, “Your Cheatin’ Heart, Green Green Grass of Home, Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette, and other Johnny Cash and Hank Williams songs. My uncle Jerry also used to play guitar and when we got together with the Lake Elsinore family, there was always singing and music involved. And on Dad’s side of the family we often got together with my Aunt Carol’s family and she would play piano for more singing. At all of these family gatherings, we also sang many faith-based song such as Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art which we are singing or hearing today.

Dad grew up in the Catholic Faith and received all of the sacraments, served in the church as an altar boy and had a deep faith since childhood. When Mom and Dad started having some marital issues, they switched to the Lutheran faith as there was a pastor there that offered them some counseling. Sometime towards the end of their marriage when I was about 15, Mom and Dad joined several other couples in a program called Evangelism Explosion which was an evangelical outreach program designed to evangelize and bring people into the church. I think Dad was the happiest that he had been in years and Mom and Dad seemed to be doing well together as they were focused on reaching out to tell others the Good News about Jesus. Wow made it to the end of this page and am now just saying the name of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus how I trust you…

Once Lynn, Tina and I began to have our own families, Dad used to love seeing us and playing with our kids. He loved his Grandkids and had pictures of every one of them in his home that he looked at every day. After Dad and Mom split up and after his 10 year marriage to Lynn Kuhn’s now Lynn Peterson, Dad lived alone and seemed very lonely and he moved from drinking beer to drinking whiskey. I’m not going to dwell on this aspect of Dad’s life except to say that in 2017, he had a medical condition that forced him to spend a month in the hospital and that is where he sobered up and never drank after that. Five years to end his life sober. I had been praying for Dad for all of my life to give up drinking and God had answered my and other’s prayers.

Unfortunately, the drinking caused Dad to get alcoholic dementia and he couldn’t remember much about what he just saw or talked about but thank God he always remembered each one of us here today. He also remembered Jesus was his savior and attended church here the last 3 and a half years of his life.

I’m sure I could share many other stories, memories and thoughts about Dad but today I would like to highlight that Dad was a kind gentle loving man that loved God and his family. He will be greatly missed but he will live on in our hearts forever and I trust God that through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross that some day we will be reunited in paradise. I love you Dad and each one of you here.