Robert "Pete" Peterson

A Celebration of Life for Robert “Pete” Peterson of Mountain Home, will be May 17, 2014, at 2 pm at First United Methodist Church.

Pete passed away on January 30, 2014, at 83. He was born January 14, 1931, in Galesburg, Illinois, to Oscar and Maude Peterson. As a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, Pete worked on B-36s during the Korean War. Upon discharge, Pete earned a Baccalaureate in Mechanical Engineering at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois, where he married Bonnie Parr, who was his wife for 54 years. The couple settled in Springfield, Illinois, where Pete was an engineer at Allis-Chalmers (later Fiat-Allis). As Manager of Test Engineering, he oversaw facilities in Illinois and Arizona. In 1988, Fiat-Allis moved the couple to Italy for three years, where Pete developed an experimental lab. After returning from Italy, he retired. The couple moved to Mountain Home in 1993 and became active in the Moose and the Elks. Pete was also a Mason. Additionally, he enjoyed his family, fishing, working in the yard, and tinkering in his shop.

Pete is survived by his wife, Bonnie, of Mountain Home; daughter, Cynthia of Edwardsville, Illinois, brother-in-law, Brook Stanbary, and sister, Irene Stanbary, of Princeton, Illinois.

He was preceded in death by his father, Oscar Peterson; mother, Maude McHugh; stepfather, Harold McHugh, and two sons, Jeffrey Allen and David Lawrence.

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, the Alzheimer’s Association, or Hospice of North Arkansas.

Arrangements are by Kirby and Family Funeral and Cremation Services.