Roger Peterson

Roger Dennis Peterson was born in Minneapolis Minnesota on January 14, 1948 to Gordon and Teresa ‘Terry’ Peterson.  Terry remarried to Walter Dreier who became Roger’s stepfather.  Roger had one sibling, an older brother Richard.  He and Richard enjoyed swimming, boating, and fishing on the lake near their Grandfather’s cabin.  Roger grew up watching Roy Rogers and liked playing Cowboys and Indians, he often shot targets with his archery set.  Roger played baseball but was enthusiastic about hockey.  He had fond memories of the local fire department flooding an open area during the Minnesota winter creating a hockey rink that he skated on with friends.  After high school, Roger enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 18 in May of 1966.  Roger graduated Army boot camp from Ft. Leonard Wood located in Missouri.  Roger qualified with the M-14 rifle and achieved the expert designation.  After boot camp Roger was ordered to Ft. Sill located in Oklahoma for artillery surveying school.  Roger learned and worked with the M-105 and larger type howitzers.  After graduation, Roger was ordered to South Korea, where he served one tour of duty, then rotated back to the States.  While stationed at Ft. Carson located in Colorado, Roger met and married Lemma ‘Elley’ Lee in April of 1969.  Roger was honorably discharged from the Army in May of 1969.

Roger and Elley stayed in Colorado and began a family having one son Steven in 1974 and one daughter Jill in 1978.  Roger worked several jobs before accepting a designer position at Coors Brewing Company where he worked for 13 years.  After Coors, Roger worked as a civil designer for Xcel Energy.  Roger achieved the highest level obtainable for designer, through his attention to detail, solid work ethic, and subject matter knowledge.  Roger worked on multi-million-dollar civil engineering projects and many of his sub-station designs are located throughout the Colorado landscape.  Roger retired from Xcel Energy after 30 years of service.

Roger was a devout husband, dad, and grandpa and always put his family first.  Family was the most important aspect of Roger’s life.  Roger enjoyed coaching baseball and served as third base coach on his son’s little league team.  He was his daughter’s favorite fan on the soccer sidelines.  Roger continued to support his children’s sports interests from their youth through college.  Roger instilled his values into his children and taught them they could do anything through determination and effort.  After work and tending to his family, Roger enjoyed hot rodding cars, an interest that would grow into a hobby, then a passion.  Elley’s first car was a 1967 VW bug which Roger quickly revamped by himself into the California Look with custom wheels.  He also handcrafted the interior pieces including the seat covers, door panels, and headliner using a small sewing machine.  Roger hot rodded the engine with speed parts and painted the car in the home garage.  Roger was a member of the Colorado VW club where his creative mind flourished.  He also built a complete Baja bug from scratch, where he again did all the mechanical, paint, and interior work himself.  After VWs, Roger became a proud member of the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association and the National Street Rod Association.  Roger built a custom lowered 1960 short bed Chevrolet truck.  Amongst his favorite hot rods were his Fords, a 1933 5-window coupe and a 1937 two door flat back sedan.

Roger had a natural ability to sketch, draw, use any tool, and work on anything.  Amongst his talents were wood-burning and penmanship.

Roger was a very loyal and loving man who treated all people as his friend.  Roger enjoyed watching football, NASCAR, NHRA, car shows, reading car magazines, drinking coffee, playing with his dogs, grilling, a variety of beers, and most of all family.  He also loved and enjoyed being with his Grandchildren whenever he could.

Roger had a Christian faith that he and the Lord developed through a special relationship, a relationship between them, he and God, a faith that would produce many fruits over Roger’s life.

Roger is survived by his wife Elley of 52 years in marriage, son Steven Peterson of 47 years, daughter Jill Broadhurst [Christian] of 43 years, granddaughter Presley of 10 years, grandson Bohden of 7 years, and pup Sunny of 1 year.

Memorial services, 1:00PM MST on January 11 2022, Horan & McConaty, 3101 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood CO 80227.

Interment with military honors, 2:15PM MST, following service, Ft. Logan National Cemetery, 4400 W Kenyon Ave, Denver CO 80236.

In lieu of flowers a donation to Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR) can be made in memory of Roger.