Gary R. Petersen, Nov. 5, 1940 – Oct. 27, 2023

Eagle, Idaho –

Gary Petersen was born in Everett, Washington, on November 5, 1940, and passed away on October 27, 2023, at the age of 82 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was the middle son of William and Anne Petersen. Gary, along with 76 classmates, graduated from Omak High School in 1958.

He was awarded a music scholarship to Eastern Washington College but chose to attend one year at Wenatchee Valley College before joining the Army. He first became a Nike-Ajax missile-man, before being trained as a reporter and Army communicator at Fort Slocum, New York. After a short assignment to Nike-Ajax Batteries at Fairchild AFB and Hanford, Gary was reassigned to Korea, where he became an Official U.S. Army Correspondent located at Camp Casey, Korea. He reported for the Pacific Stars and Stripes and the 7^th Army weekly newspaper, The Bayonet. He became the editor of the Bayonet, with a circulation of 10,000.

After three years of military service, he entered the Murrow School of Communications at Washington State University in the fall of 1962, where he became the editor of the Daily Evergreen, graduated in 1965 and became a lifelong Coug fan. He never missed an opportunity to give a ‘Go Cougs’ to fellow fans/students/alumni (and especially to Husky fans). He even arranged for Butch the Cougar to attend his oldest daughter’s wedding and couldn’t resist putting the costume on for photos to send for years to come to his son-in-law, a Husky fan. His wife almost had to call 911 when he couldn’t get Butch’s head off, and he proudly attended the wedding with a gash on his forehead.

After graduation, he landed his first job at Battelle, where he met and married the love of his life, Margaret Toner. Outside of a brief stint for the AEC at the Nevada Test Site in 1972, Gary worked on or near the Hanford Project his entire career. He worked for Westinghouse during the construction and startup of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) and joined the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) when it was constructing five nuclear power plants at one time. He returned to Battelle in 1989, working first as the Director of Communications & Administration followed by the International Nuclear Safety Program following the accident at the Chernobyl Unit 4 in Ukraine. After retiring from Battelle in 2002, he began working for TRIDEC. Throughout his career, he enjoyed escorting thousands of individuals & VIPs through Hanford and the B Reactor.

He was a life-long member of Christ the King Church in Richland. In his younger years, he was on the Parish Council and was instrumental in building the ‘new’ church. He sang in the church choir for more than 35 years, and especially loved singing Ave Maria at Christmas Masses.

Gary loved his job, the Tri-Cities and his many friends and colleagues, but he said his biggest accomplishments were getting married, having two incredible daughters and SIX unique/wonderful grandkids. He was proceeded in death by his father, William Petersen, brother Bill Petersen and mother (at 104 years old), Anne Petersen Tilly. He is survived by his wife Margaret, daughter and son-in law, Michele and Jeff Kophs & their children Ashley, Emily & Joshua; daughter and son-in-law Nicole and Rob Barnes & their children Lucas, Leah & Alex; his sister and brother-in-law Vicki and Steve Johnson and their children, Matthew Johnson & Tina Avery and their families; niece, Erika Petersen & family; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Sharon & Robert Lambert, and their children, Rob Lambert, Mike Lambert, Lisa Deal and their families.

Please join us for any or all of the following on Saturday, November 18, 2023: A memorial mass 1:00pm, Christ the King Catholic Church, 1111 Stevens Drive, Richland, followed by an interment at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Richland, an open house/celebration of life, between 3:00pm-5:00pm at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center, University Drive, Richland, WA. We encourage all to come in their favorite Coug gear.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gary R. & Margaret E. Petersen Fund at Washington State University by following this link – https://bit.ly/PetersenFundMurrowCollegeCommunication. This endowment will provide ongoing student scholarships. Donations are tax-deductible.