Eugene W Peterson

Age 100. Gene was born in Lakeview, Oregon as the 7th of 8 children. He attended Purdue University and California Institute of Technology majoring in physics. After working for Dow Chemical company in Michigan for 7 years, Gene moved his family to Santa Barbara in 1951 where he was one of the founders of Santa Barbara Research Center. He loved his annual backpack trip to the eastern Sierra and was a firm believer in stewardship of the land. He was preceded in death by Lorna Thomas Peterson, his loving wife of 63 years. He leaves behind his three children Rolf, Christine and Allan (Janet), grandchildren Peter (Vickie) Spiess, Eric (Carolyn) Spiess, Samantha Peterson and Zachary Peterson and three great-grandchildren. Gene was deeply loved by his family and well respected by his peers. No services are planned at this time.