Roy P. Peterson

Roy Peter Peterson, 92, of Moorhead, died November, 8, 2007, at Eventide Lutheran Home in Moorhead, Minnesota, under the marvelous care of Eventide staff and Hospice of the Red River Valley.Roy was born May 2, 1915 in Jamestown, ND, to Peter A. and Isabelle Rose Swann Peterson. He grew up and attended school in Jamestown, graduating from high school in 1936. Roy was a lifetime employee of the Northern Pacific Railroad and later Burlington Northern Railroad. On May 1, 1937 he married Jeanette Syler. They lived in Fargo from 1938 to 1941. In 1941 Roy was transferred to Centrailia, Washington, where trains were employed in the WWII effort. Roy was recalled by Northern Pacific to Dilworth, MN at the end of 1942. From 1943 to 1953, Roy and Jeanette lived in Fargo. After a three year transfer to Dickinson, ND, they relocated to Moorhead. In 1959 they built a home in Moorhead where they lived until 2006, when they moved to Eventide Lutheran Home.Roy began working as a call boy for the Northern Pacific Railroad at Jamestown in 1936 and was later promoted to the position of fireman. He received his locomotive diploma and was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1946. In October 1953 he was promoted to Road Foreman of Engines and had responsibility for the Yellowstone Division between Mandan, ND and Forsythe, MT. In 1956 Roy declined a promotion involving relocation. This allowed him to pursue his hobby farm in Minnesota lake country where he grew apples, raspberries, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, grapes; and kept bees and pigeons. Roy and Jeanette both retired from the Burlington Northern in September 1976. They traveled in Europe and wintered in Texas and California. Many of his lifelong friends were fellow railroad workers, and in his retirement years he enjoyed attending the Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club of retired railroad men. Roy was a member of Barber Shop SPEBSQSA, the Elks, El Zagal Shrine, and was a 32° Mason. Roy had a passion for reading history, and he was an officer in the Red River Historical Society. He was an early member of the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers in Rollag and ran the old 353 Steam Locomotive for many years. His son was lucky enough to shovel coal for him.He is survived by a sister, Fern Aipperspach of Jamestown; a son, John Shirley McCaslin Peterson, of Fargo; and one nephew, James Schmitt. He was preceded in death by his mother, father, and his wife of 67 years.Memorials may be made to the Eventide Foundation or Hospice of the Red River Valley.bSNOW-BOUND/bThe worldling's eyes shall gather dew,Dreaming in throngful city waysOf winter joys his boyhood knew;And dear and early friends – the fewWho yet remain – shall pause to viewThese Flemish pictures of old days;Sit with me by the homestead hearth,And stretch the hands of memory forthTo warm them at the wood-fire's blaze.biJOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER/i/b